World

With potential extreme events seemingly everywhere, institutional investors are talking more about hedging against so-called tail risk. But should they bother?

AustralianSuper to more than double its private equity allocation; Korea's Mirae Asset set to acquire luxury hotel portfolio from Anbang of China; Japan's GPIF plans a new system for potential index benchmarks; Poba of Korea hires five funds for $250 million private debt mandate; Taiwan's financial regulator to raise capital cost of bond ETFs and more.

A new research report argues that regional asset owners are emphasising the risks of climate change and artificial intelligence over potential opportunities.

The approaches to downside protection vary, but in Asia and the US they include paring illiquid holdings and increasing allocations to unconstrained and low-volatility strategies.

Firms such as Ashmore, GMO and Northern Trust see equities in emerging markets outperforming those in developed countries in the next few years.

Australian supers foreign equity holdings surge; Japan's Dai-Ichi Life cuts stocks in big investment shift; Korea's Teachers Pension hires new CIO, NPS sees over 100 investment staff leave after 2016 HQ shift; Malaysia's EPF suffers record income drop and more.

Family investors in America, particularly among the younger generations, share many of the same concerns about climate, health and education as their contemporaries in Asia.

Lieven Debruyne will move to London as the UK fund house’s global head of distribution as part of a senior reshuffle, raising the question of who will succeed him in Asia.

Alaska Permanent Fund is gearing up to trade Chinese debt after including it in its index this year, and would like to find more Asian fund managers for its absolute return portfolio.

Poorly performing superannuation funds set to close; First State Super to ramp up local loan investments; Hong Kong's HKMA buys into Sydney project; Korea's NPS enjoys strong second quarter; Korean insurers suffer as duration gap grows; and more.

The state fund is raising its allocation to Asia, above all through private equity, says CIO Marcus Frampton, in the first of a two-part series on its rising focus on assets in the region.

Malaysia's PNB lures CEO from Invesco; Manulife IM makes asset allocation hires; Apac property heads exit BlackRock, Nuveen; Janus Henderson replaces EM team; private bank recruiter Bevan joins Executive Access; Natixis IM hires SE Asia wholesale head, and more.

A July survey of 177 institutional investors by Preqin showed an overwhelming majority believe equity markets are at a peak and could see a big correction soon.

Australia's CBA bank sells life insurance business to AIA; Ping An Insurance enters talks to buy Huaxia Life Insurance; US government fund pressured on China investments, and more.

The US pension fund may hand out external mandates for China A-shares, joining other asset owners tapping the asset class in spite of the US-China trade war.

Canada's OTPP seeks hiring spree in Asia amid investment push - and scouts for green energy and airport investments in India; China's Anbang aims to sell its Japan property portfolio; Tokio Marine to acquire Malaysia insurer and merge with its business; Singapore to raise retirement age to 65; Thai Life acquires 35% of Myanmar insurer, and more.

Value Partners loses sales MD; M&G puts offices in Australia; Vulcan Capital opens Singapore branch; AllianzGI adds private credit managers; Investec hires China analyst; BNY Mellon IM adds China salesman; Pictet WM overhauls Asia leadership, and more.

Despite being seen as undervalued, Japan's equity market faces multiple challenges that are deterring allocators, finds Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s fund manager survey.

Sizeable exposure to overseas markets has helped the huge Japanese pension fund stave off a rout after a turbulent period, underlining why others are following suit.

The prospect of a prolonged US-China trade war and the unrest in Hong Kong are concerns for American family investors, but they are not ready to cut allocations to Asia.