20 Top Whitepapers from April 2020
Popular and Trending Papers from April 2020
As another month rolls by, lockdown measures persist for a large swath of the global population. But, in keeping with previous months' content reviews, this list is again light on virus-related headlines. Instead, our list of 20 top papers for the month of April includes insight on private equity fund selection by limited partners, volatility-related products, real estate megatrends, and trust within the investment management industry (just to name a few topics).
Please note that all 20 papers may not be visible due to geographic restrictions. For further examples of top content across a wide range of investment-related subject matter, head to Savvy Investor today and browse through the premier collection of whitepapers that the investment industry has to offer.
Earning Investors' Trust: Shaping Client Relationships (CFA Institute, 2020)
Drawing from a survey of over 4,000 retail and institutional investors, this publication identifies three key themes which help to build investor trust.
European Private Debt: Shifting dynamics (M&G Investments, Apr 2020)
For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies
M&G Investments discusses the dynamics of deal flow across Europe’s private debt markets in 2019, highlighting key drivers and examining the factors they believe are essential to successful long-term investing in private debt.
Guiding Principles for an Effective Board (Federated Hermes, Apr 2020)
Federated Hermes sets out five guiding principles to help determine board effectiveness.
Think Global: Identifying tomorrow's world cities (Nuveen, 2020)
Nuveen looks at the disruptive forces of demographics, technology, and real estate, discussing how these megatrends can create opportunities within tomorrow's global cities.
Long-Term Value Opening Up in Leveraged Credit Markets (Eaton Vance, Apr 2020)
For compliance reasons, this paper is NOT accessible in the United States and Canada
Eaton Vance examines how value may be opening up in core credit markets and explores the broad, long-term shifts taking place across the market.
Crowding Risk in Smart Beta Strategies (Scientific Beta, 2020)
Investors should not overlook the economic rationale behind the existence of certain risk factors when examining whether they will persist. In this paper, Scientific Beta reviews evidence on factor crowding and provides helpful practical considerations for the examination of risk factors.
Webinar: Can client reporting become a profit center? (SimCorp, 2020)
Overhauling client reporting can potentially create windfalls for an organisation, such as cross-selling opportunities, integrations with other CRM platforms, and technological advancements that create efficiencies within profit centres.
Measuring the Value of LP Fund-Selection Skill (PGIM Institutional Advisory & Solutions, 2020)
The authors use a 'fair comparison framework' to examine LP investments including details about uncalled capital, commitment pacing, and specific classes of funds.
The Vix, Vol-Based Global Indexes and Trading Instruments (CFA Institute Research Foundation, 2020)
The VIX Index, vol products, and VIX futures can all be used in aspects of portfolio construction. But investors planning on using these tools for risk management, or alpha generation, or to hedge other exposures, should carefully study them beforehand.
Lockdown, Partial Lockdown or No Lockdown - Impact on equities (Qontigo blog, Apr 2020)
Qontigo examines whether the type of lockdown regime has affected the performance of local equity markets in 9 different countries.
Webinar: Oil Demand – Over the Hill and Far Away (BNP AM, Apr 2020)
Will oil prices remain low due to the collapse, and potential continued plateau, of global consumption? Experts from BNP Paribas AM discuss these issues and others related to global oil demand.
Responsible Investing: Critical issues and indicators Q1 2020 (Calvert)
For compliance reasons, this paper is NOT accessible in the United States and Canada
Eaton Vance takes a closer look at responsible investing data, including climate-specific issues like water stress and surface temperature.
Strategic Sector Selector: Is this elevator going up or down? (Invesco, Apr 2020)
For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the economic and social ramifications of the present-day pandemic, Invesco shares some of their strategic asset allocation decisions, including commentary on specific equity sectors.
March Mayhem: Was your portfolio betrayed by Beta? (Intech, Apr 2020)
For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies
In March of this year, the market drawdown was accompanied by an extreme shift in equity betas. Intech discusses this dislocation and the effects that it had upon defensive strategies.
An Update on our ESG Scores (Franklin Templeton, Apr 2020)
For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies
Franklin Templeton provides country-specific ESG scores for 56 countries as of early 2020. Also included are case studies on several countries and broader ESG issues such as water security.
Building a Better Portfolio: Balancing Performance and Liquidity (PGIM IAS, Apr 2020)
How should investors tackle the conflict between potentially higher returns and greater liquidity? This paper examines how to integrate liquidity and cash flow measures into a multi-asset portfolio construction process.
2020 China Rankings: The top foreign fund management firms (Z-Ben Advisors)
Z-Ben Advisors surveys the field of global asset management organizations to see which ones are succeeding in China.
Alternative Alphas and Asset Allocation (CAIA, 2020)
The authors develop an asset allocation framework that addresses difficulties within traditional asset allocation practices, utilising an approach that combines systematic risk, orthogonal risk factors, and other alphas.
Portfolio factor allocation schemes (FTSE Russell, 2020)
Which factors should investors allocate to and to what extent? This 20-page paper from FTSE Russell outlines three different factor allocation schemes and a portfolio construction process that corresponds with each of them.
The Effectiveness of Short-Selling Bans (State Street, Apr 2020)
Will short selling bans succeed in reducing market declines as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic? State Street draws lessons from academic studies on previous short-selling bans.