Private equity in China faces hurdles despite new rules
Hurdles such as foreign exchange limitations still exist, but the new rules could help private equity fund managers and investors with ESG integration.
Market Views: How will EU’s new ESG rules affect portfolios?
New European Union regulations being introduced in March will raise the bar for ESG reporting and could well hurt the appeal of energy- and carbon-intensive stocks.
Weekly roundup of people news, Jan 22
JP Morgan AM hires Asia head of investment stewardship; Hines appoints Asia CIO; JLL names new India CEO; William Blair IM hires Asia sales head; Colliers appoints new Australia chief; Fidelity moves into private credit; Broadridge adds Apac COO; Nomura adds 20 private bankers in Hong Kong and Singapore and more.
Finding factors to fit economic cycles
By applying the ‘Investment Clock’ framework, investors can link factor behaviour across economic cycles in the US.
Finding factors to fit economic cycles
By applying the ‘Investment Clock’ framework, investors can link factor behaviour across economic cycles in the US.
Japan’s $97b University Fund plan draws criticism
The country's debut university endowment would likely replicate GPIF’s investment portfolio, but some experts are sceptical that it can meet its return target while avoiding risky assets.
Nikko AM rings institutional team changes in Hong Kong
The Japanese fund house has added a head of institutional business for China/Hong Kong and an ETF salesman and is also hiring a replacement Korea client coverage executive.
Institutional Excellence Awards 2020: Why Poba and NPS impressed
AsianInvestor explains why Public Officials Benefit Association and National Pension Service were named for our bifurcated pension category awards.
Korea Post Savings to double real asset allocation to 10%
The $80 billion fund is targeting US and European infrastructure and property with a focus on debt holdings and mid-cap managers, in line with its increasingly global investment strategy.
Soaring tech stocks could cut PE returns, warns family office CIO
Rocketing tech valuations are putting pressure on private equity funds, so investors should consider more unpopular sectors such as financials, says Helen Zhu of Nan Fung Trinity.
Institutional Excellence Awards 2020: How GPIF, Poba and GIC stood tall
AsianInvestor reveals how Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund, Public Officials Benefit Association of Korea and Singapore's GIC stood out from their country rivals.
Partner Insights
Drivers of change – macro forces and the new normal for insurance
In a recent webinar, we asked insurance industry experts how their investment teams can best plan to meet their return targets when facing a mixture of market volatility, low returns, a tenuous economic recovery and geopolitical uncertainty.
Going for gold - allocation strategies among uncertainty
In our recent webinar in partnership with the World Gold Council, AsianInvestor spoke with a panel of experts about this unique asset class in the context of current developments and the outlook for the future.
Investing in the green economy - sizing the opportunity
Although the green economy represents an investment opportunity equivalent to a $4 trillion market cap, the rapid growth in recent years needs to accelerate further to achieve the goal of keeping global warming within 2 degrees.
Making the most of alternative data
In today’s fast-paced trading environment, there is growing demand for unique data streams to help guide investment decisions. In a recent webinar, AsianInvestor spoke to experts in the field of alternative data to gain a more in-depth understanding of the latest available options, from geotagging to sentiment analysis through natural language processing, and other unique sources of alpha.
Why private assets will prove their resilience in 2021 and beyond
Private assets continue to attract capital as investors seek better returns. While private markets can continue to deliver, they will increasingly rely on hard-to-access areas and specialist skills, says Georg Wunderlin, global head of private assets at Schroders.
Taming digital assets for institutional exposure
The development of institutional grade financial infrastructure such as exchanges and custody arrangements has made digital assets more accessible to traditional fund houses, ETF issuers and other types of investors. Yet more consideration is needed about how to allocate to these assets and also mitigate the risks.
Taking a targeted approach to sustainability
As investors increasingly recognise the risks and opportunities from the low carbon transition, they are incorporating a wider set of considerations into their decision making, including carbon, green revenues and environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.
European listed real estate offers opportunities
Studies show that when comparing the long-term returns of listed and unlisted real estate vehicles based on the same underlying assets, the listed sector is an effective proxy for direct property investment. However, listed real estate (LRE) has the benefit of higher transparency, diversification, unmatched liquidity and a lower hurdle to global access compared to direct property.
Emerging market corporate debt, explained
In a recent webinar, AsianInvestor spoke to top experts on emerging market (EM) corporate debt to get a better sense of the opportunities, risks and rewards that investors should be familiar with. To continue the conversation, we followed up with panelists to further explore some key issues.
ESG and securities lending: Asia charts a course towards alignment
There is growing investor interest in managing the environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors inherent in securities lending – especially concerning voting rights – finds a consultation conducted by AsianInvestor and the Pan Asia Securities Lending Association (PASLA).
Green and ESG bonds: what’s behind their rise?
The past year has seen something of a growth spurt for green bonds, with the market heading toward the $1 trillion milestone, according to data from the Climate Bonds Initiative and Bloomberg. It has also seen the emergence of social bonds, used for social investments with aims such as expanding access to healthcare and education. As well as significant government bond launches, there has been increased issuance from the corporate sector and from a wider range of businesses and industries.
Asset owners eye infrastructure to fill yield gap
Across Asia Pacific, investment appetite among insurers, pension funds and other institutions bodes well for unlisted infrastructure – especially sustainable assets in Asia, within mandates managed by professionals with experience, finds the latest survey by AsianInvestor and QIC.
In-depth
NZ Super targeting more real assets, tech and ESG
The sovereign wealth fund aims to invest more in real estate and infrastructure, while looking to improve its data assessment capabilities and commitments to ESG, said its CIO.
Insurers divided as illiquid asset push gains pace
Some insurance executives are increasingly worried about the risks of fast-growing private asset exposure, while others are calling for looser capital rules around such investments.
Public pensions overestimating future returns, says study
New research by Omfif suggests that leading retirement funds expect to achieve better returns in the future than they did in 2015, despite evidence pointing to the contrary.
Investors ditching alternative risk premia on poor returns
Having drawn rising institutional attention and flows in recent years, ARP strategies are seen to be suffering their worst year on record, and many asset owners are making for the exit.
Magazine
Webinar
Oct 29, 2020
Emerging Markets Corporate Debt - Navigating the Unknown
Over the past two decades, the value of outstanding US dollar-denominated Emerging Markets (EM) corporate debt has increased by a factor of 20, to over $1.5 trillion – a larger asset pool even than US dollar EM sovereign debt, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. This growth has created unique opportunities for investors, particularly those rethinking their asset allocation and risk-reward profiles while seeking diversification and less correlated return streams.
In our upcoming webinar in partnership with Credit Suisse, our expert panel will address questions such as:
- During Covid-19, how well did EM corporate bonds perform and why?
- What are the key risk-reward factors that distinguish EM corporate from EM sovereign debt – and how are they influenced by historical default rates?
- How can EM corporate bond valuations create attractive investment opportunities in countries where sovereign ratings are relatively low?
- When does EM investment grade corporate debt offer an attractive alternative to developed market credit, vis-a-vis the underlying country exposures?
- Which unique considerations are relevant to EM bonds, particularly when it comes to transparency, governance and auditing?
Join us for an in-depth discussion on this exciting area within fixed income.
Oct 30, 2020
Making the most of alternative data
There is ever-growing demand in today’s fast-paced world of finance for unique data streams to help guide investment decisions. From geotagging to sentiment analysis through natural language processing, a myriad of options are now available. Data management professionals, quants, research teams, and data scientists are all looking for new sources of alpha to help differentiate their offerings – but even the best raw data cannot be useful in isolation, and requires processing and context. Our panel of experts looks at which alternative sources are truly useful, and how they can be benchmarked against and integrated with more traditional data sources.
During this in-depth webinar, we will discuss:
- How to deploy and execute an effective overall data management strategy
- How to get the most out alternative data and data science programs
- Analysis of key trends in data usage and alternative data demand in 2020
- How the right datasets can guide technology planning and investment
- Who can benefit the most from alternative datasets, and how
Oct 23, 2020
Going for gold: Allocation strategies amid uncertainty
The price of gold has been surging against the backdrop of fatigued economic growth. Its price has reached record highs thanks to near zero interest rates and a weakening US dollar.
Aside from its reputation as a safe haven in times of economic uncertainty and political risk, gold is a useful hedging tool and provides long term capital gain. Yet asset owners have concerns over liquidity and valuation as the asset does not provide any yield.
The ‘Going for Gold’ webinar, in partnership with the World Gold Council, will host two leading asset owners and assess:
- Investor sentiments towards US dollar
- Interest rate and economic growth forecast
- Key price drivers, liquidity and the supply and demand of gold
- The ideal form asset owners should invest in gold
- How to calculate gold’s asset valuation in different scenarios
- Gold’s role as a strategic asset
- Gold and ESG considerations
Oct 16, 2020
Drivers of change – macro forces and the new normal for insurance
In times of economic turmoil, the natural reaction is often to cut your losses. Plus, balancing assets and liabilities can be particularly difficult during a period of historically low interest rates, looming government debt and the risk of corporate defaults. However, amid these challenging conditions investors should combine a long-term investment view with bespoke investment solutions.
In our upcoming webinar, we discuss with insurance industry experts how best to map out a path to successful investment against a backdrop of tenuous economic recovery and geopolitical uncertainty.
- How macro-economic forces are shaping risks for balance sheets
- Regulatory changes in a broader context, such as IFRS 17 and IFRS 9
- Current challenges in building products with investment guarantees
- Embedding ESG considerations into the portfolio construction process
- All weather asset allocation to navigate through market volatility
Events
Nov 17, 2020
Global Alternatives Week: Korea 2021
AsianInvestor’s “Global Alternatives Week: Korea 2021” will be taking place as a 5-day virtual event from January 25th to 29th.
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Nov 17, 2020
Insurance Investment Week
AsianInvestor’s “Insurance Investment Week” will be taking place as a 5-day virtual event from March 15th to 19th.
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Most Read
Weekly roundup of people news, Jan 15
Capital Group names new Japan president; Robeco replaces Singapore chief; Hillhouse Capital hires ex-Blackstone MD; Vontobel expands EM debt team; HSBC Global AM names Apac ETF sales head; Manulife creates new digital business role; Stanchart names CIO for wealth management; TMF appoints fund services exec in Shanghai; and more.
NPS to add nearly 40 staff, restructure overseas asset team
The Korean public pension fund has split its global public market division and will hire 38 personnel across divisions as it looks to drastically increase overseas investments by 2025.
Why central bank digital currencies could attract instos
Central bank digital currencies are seen as more stable than Bitcoin, but they are not likely to be traded the way cryptocurrencies or forex are.
Indonesia’s SWF plans spark governance questions
Experts say the country's debut sovereign wealth fund needs full investing independence to attract international assets, but this appears unlikely according to current plans.
Credit funds eye openings as more banks cut Asia lending
The number of lenders reducing their Asian exposure is seen to be growing fast amid the coronavirus crisis, leaving asset managers keen to fill the financing gap.
Why private assets will prove their resilience in 2021 and beyond
Private assets continue to attract capital as investors seek better returns. While private markets can continue to deliver, they will increasingly rely on hard-to-access areas and specialist skills, says Georg Wunderlin, global head of private assets at Schroders.
Emerging market corporate debt, explained
In a recent webinar, AsianInvestor spoke to top experts on emerging market (EM) corporate debt to get a better sense of the opportunities, risks and rewards that investors should be familiar with. To continue the conversation, we followed up with panelists to further explore some key issues.
Green and ESG bonds: what’s behind their rise?
The past year has seen something of a growth spurt for green bonds, with the market heading toward the $1 trillion milestone, according to data from the Climate Bonds Initiative and Bloomberg. It has also seen the emergence of social bonds, used for social investments with aims such as expanding access to healthcare and education. As well as significant government bond launches, there has been increased issuance from the corporate sector and from a wider range of businesses and industries.
BLF’s stricter rules on external managers may backfire
Taiwan’s state pension fund has pledged to regulate external managers more strictly after the bribery scandal, but the additional red tape could turn away some fund houses.
Weekly roundup of people news, Jan 22
JP Morgan AM hires Asia head of investment stewardship; Hines appoints Asia CIO; JLL names new India CEO; William Blair IM hires Asia sales head; Colliers appoints new Australia chief; Fidelity moves into private credit; Broadridge adds Apac COO; Nomura adds 20 private bankers in Hong Kong and Singapore and more.