Partner Content

By applying the ‘Investment Clock’ framework, investors can link factor behaviour across economic cycles in the US.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

In partnership with Southern Asset Management, AsianInvestor spoke to industry leaders about what the future holds for China equities in the coming year and beyond. Here are some key highlights.

While sustainable investment themes and practices are making steady in-roads across the region, the pace would increase with greater asset choice and standardised data, finds the latest AsianInvestor / S&P Dow Jones Indices ESG poll.

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.

Global trends and research overwhelmingly show that private equity firms regard ESG as of growing importance, with firms based in Europe leading the way. However, Asia Pacific is a notable hotspot in the growth of ESG-awareness in the private markets, with firms proactively seeking out initiatives to improve ESG performance. Liam Woods, Apex APAC Head of Business Development, reflects on these drivers of greater ESG prominence in 2020, predicting that 2021 will be the year in which ESG will become more than just a ‘box ticking’ exercise for private equity in Asia Pacific.

Traditional approaches to market and reference data management can be expensive to implement and run, which means more firms are now looking at alternative ways to handle data. At the same time, clients want to avoid having to re-invent the wheel and would like to follow standard practices – which is where Data-as-a-Service comes into play.

Building on the results of a survey of over 250 COOs in 15 countries conducted at the end of last year, AsianInvestor spoke to COOs at leading firms about how their remit and priorities have changed following the pandemic – and whether that means broadening the scope in their involvement in initiatives such as change management and technology implementation.

The appetite for best-of-breed financial products around the world continues to grow, particularly among institutional investors. So it’s no surprise that fund managers continue to look to Europe from a distribution perspective. Once a fund manager has decided to distribute products to the European market, key decisions will need to be made.

A China equities allocation makes sense when considering global growth, consumerism, foreign investment and the potential for higher returns. As an institutional investor or investment professional, being exposed to China has traditionally been an ancillary outcome of a decision to own emerging market (EM) equities. However, we believe there are potential return and risk benefits from considering China as an independent allocation.