In this eleventh edition of Robeco's annual five-year outlook, they are incorporating climate change for the first time as a medium-term risk affecting return forecasts for asset classes. The effect that climate change policies, such as legislation following the European Green Deal, will have on asset prices is one of the…

Investors face similar macroeconomic risks and opportunities regardless of their individual investment preferences. To best navigate growth and inflation concerns, the authors propose building macro factor-mimicking portfolios diversified across asset classes and style factors. They focus on the macro factors growth,…

As investors head into the new year, Nuveen thinks 2022 should look quite a bit like 2021 – with some key differences. The positives: Economic reopening should continue and global economic and corporate earnings growth should be above trend. The negatives: Inflationary pressures have grown, interest rates are rising and…

This white paper from Man Group offers an insight into the ways the climate crisis has affected financial markets, how the markets have responded, and the role the financial services industry has to play in the move to a carbon-neutral future.

Featured Papers and Interviews with Industry Thought Leaders

Over the past century, the global economy has transitioned from being dominated by agriculture and manufacturing to being powered primarily by services. Services now represent three-quarters of the workforce in developed markets and generate two-thirds of…

Advances in technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning are radically reshaping winners and losers across the service sector in both developed and emerging markets – and at an even faster pace after the Covid-19 pandemic. To understand the investment implications of this next revolution…

Asset allocation and portfolio construction are considered to be the main determinants of investment risk and returns for investors. The challenge for asset managers has always been finding an optimal asset allocation that meets both investors’ risk and reward requirements. Asset allocation methods have developed and…

Welcome to EQuilibrium — this new, annual global research from Nuveen explores the drivers of investor behaviour and their impact on people, portfolios and problem-solving, with a particular focus on alternatives, responsible investing and the human side of asset management. Nuveen also looks at the beliefs, mindsets and…

In PGIM’s new Megatrends paper, they propose an actionable climate-change agenda that addresses both hidden portfolio vulnerabilities and potential opportunities in the transition to a lower-carbon world. PGIM's research draws on the insights of more than 40 PGIM investment professionals, 30 leading policymakers, scientists…

Alternative investments are attracting ever more investors. According to the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association, between 2003 and 2018, the size of the global investment market doubled, while alternative investments almost tripled to $13.4 trillion. This would mean around 12% of worldwide investments…

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So imagine what dozens of pictures depicting the long-term trends shaping our socioeconomic environment may be worth, when put together. This booklet gathers the most intriguing graphs that Robeco's trends investing experts have presented on a daily basis over the past year. They…

Over the past month, the world has been watching Glasgow where world leaders met for the COP26 climate change summit. At COP26, around 200 countries have attempted to find a reasonable balance between what their own interests are and agreeing on targets that all nations should meet to stop irreversible damage to the planet…

Global markets have been watching Asian economies with keen interest over the past year to see how they managed, dealt with, and recovered from, the global coronavirus pandemic. More recently, markets have been focused on China due to the ongoing debt debacle of property development giant Evergrande. Investors across many…

Winner of Savvy Investor Awards - Best Asset Allocation Paper 2021

Oliver Wyman Forum asks why stock market valuations in the United States varied so much throughout history. Relative to historical benchmarks, are valuations in recent years as extreme as commonly believed? And why have margins also varied so much and…

Real assets are tangible, physical assets that have an inherent value deriving from their attributes and usefulness. The asset class includes commodities, land, precious metals, real estate, equipment and machinery, and natural resources. Occasionally, this definition is expanded to include an element of inflation protection…

Many factors can explain return attribution differences in credit portfolio returns – curve, interest rate positioning, sector allocation, and security selection. Solid bottom-up fundamental credit research is certainly a cornerstone of any successful corporate bond management strategy, as most managers generally achieve a…

Dimensional Fund Advisors study the performance of different investment and spending strategies for retirement. Investment strategies include wealth-focused glide paths that combine equities with short-term, high-quality fixed income. They also consider an income-focused glide path that combines a moderate equity allocation…

Institutional portfolios such as corporate pension plans are increasing allocations to illiquid private assets seeking better returns and diversification. However, as allocations increase, a portfolio’s liquidity structure changes, sometimes abruptly. How can a CIO increase their confidence with private asset allocations and…

The key theme of this year’s report, the ‘S’ pillar of ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing, is highly pertinent. As politicians and policy makers across the world aim to ‘build back better’, Create-Research and DWS believe they need to take the time to fully understand the social part of ESG.