Strategy

Strategy The implementation of ESG in portfolios and the evolution of ESG reporting

We continue this series with Tomas Hildebrandt, Senior Portfolio Manager at Evli, and Janne Kujala, Head of Nordic Equity, to discuss implementation of responsible investments across funds and investment spaces.

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Strategy Is 2021 going to be the year of a value rotation?

For some time now, we have been highlighting the wide valuation gap between the ‘value’ and ‘growth/quality’ ends of the market. Earlier in 2020, we suggested that the drivers of this extreme dispersion might be coming to an end and the 2020s could be the decade of the ‘cheap (...)

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Strategy How do L/S Equity Hedge Funds position on the recovery?

The consensus now expects a supportive 2021 backdrop for risky assets. With vaccines rolling out and continued reflation policies, the normalization of the world economy would accelerate, amid lower geopolitical uncertainties, still ample global (...)

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Strategy The EM FX carry trade is back

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Strategy Five reasons why special situations outlook is brightening

Special Situations strategies have been under pressure in 2020, both on their event and credit arbitrage books. Due to their long structural market beta, managers have underperformed early this year. They have retraced most but not all they have (...)

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Strategy Airports versus toll roads - A novel reversal

Following previous macro shocks – the gulf wars, 9/11, SARs and cyclical major economic downturns – global air traffic has bounced back rapidly in a sharp V-shaped recovery, while toll road volumes followed more of an (...)

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Strategy Dollar depreciation helps CTAS

Since the U.S. presidential election on November 3 th, the USD has started a descent that may have legs under the new administration. The easing of trade tensions and an accommodative policy mix could put additional pressure on the DXY, which was down -1.7% since the (...)

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Strategy Most L/S Equity emerge unscathed from factor rotations

Several hedge fund strategies have momentum biases, in particular L/S Equity, and CTAs. Considering the fact that this rotation took place in a bullish environment, most hedge fund strategies ended the week in positive (...)

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Strategy A country divided

Abbie Llewellyn-Waters, fund manager, global sustainable equities at Jupiter, reflects on the meaning of the democrat victory and the implications for investors.

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Strategy Hedge fund positioning ahead of U.S. Elections

If past elections provide any guidance, prospects for a Trump reelection look slim. History suggests that a second term reelection almost always requires strong growth. In most past election campaigns, polls did not materially shift after (...)

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Strategy Our thoughts on the rally in momentum stocks

Momentum is a strategy which buys stocks trending higher and sells stocks on a downtrend within an index. It is systematic and has no considerations for earnings, valuation, or other fundamental metrics such as (...)

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Strategy Are investors too confident?

With stock markets close to all-time highs at a time of very elevated economic uncertainty, the question arises if investors have become too confident. Today’s chart from The Yale School of Management Stock Market Confidence Indexes reveals how probable U.S. individual and (...)

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Strategy Machine Learning : Choosing the best regime for you!

Machine learning and big data techniques have been developed making it possible to apply sophisticated mathematical models (hidden Markov switching models, which we will examine later) to financial data series in order to identify market regimes. All this has created scope (...)

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Strategy Investment Style Rotations - Growth versus Value

Style rotations, where investors switch one type of investment style for another, are nothing new. At some point during most investment cycles different styles – such as growth, quality and value – will outperform at different points as investors rotate in and out depending on (...)

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Strategy Should you care about biodiversity ? Investors have a role to play in habitat and species protection

Biodiversity is in the spotlight nowadays as previous international agreements expire, making 2020 a year of assessment and target-setting for politicians, legislators and businesses. What exactly is biodiversity and why is it (...)

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Strategy Our take on opposite Macro/CTA views on bonds

Systematic Global Macro and CTAs are often associated because many strategies are multi-asset, global, and have a top down investment process. Benchmark indices tend to pool them together.

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Strategy CTAs lead the pack in April

For the second month in a row, CTAs outperformed hedge fund strategies in April. According to the Lyxor CTA peer group, the strategy was up +1.6% in April, which brings the year-to-date performance close to +5%.

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Strategy Machine Learning : Choosing the best regime for you!

Machine learning and big data techniques have been developed making it possible to apply sophisticated mathematical models (hidden Markov switching models, which we will examine later) to financial data series in order to identify market regimes. All this has created scope (...)

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Strategy ESG and climate: When credit becomes sustainable

Those investors who have opted to incorporate ESG and climate issues into their portfolios will emerge from the crisis with even greater faith in their convictions and all the keener to take more action for the future. New investors will undoubtedly soon join the movement to (...)

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Strategy Japan Could Win a Medal in the Recovery Race

A strong manufacturing base and changing attitudes toward shareholder value could mean the world’s capital heads to Japan, even if the world’s sports fans cannot. The analysis of Erik L. Knutzen, CFA, CAIA, Chief Investment Officer—Multi-Asset Class, Neuberger (...)

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Strategy Risk factor investing explained

Risk factor investing is growing in popularity, but there’s a risk of getting lost in the factor “zoo”. In this Expert Opinion Thierry Roncalli, Head of Quantitative Research at Lyxor Asset Management, explains the concept of risk factors and distinguishes between facts and (...)

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Strategy Pension funds predicted to increase hedge funds exposure in the coming years

The current pension allocation is only a fraction of the allocation of many of the leading endowment funds, many of whom have up to 50% of their portfolio invested in hedge funds.

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Strategy VARPS: 2019 Update

GAM Investments’ Tim Love reflects on the performance of his frontier market plays, Vietnam, Argentina, Romania, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (VARPS) so far this year and discusses the investment opportunities and risks associated with these (...)

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Strategy Asset Allocation : remain OW High Yield, turn neutral equities and short US Treasuries

The post-ECB correction observed since last Friday confirms our view described in August and again last week in our latest Asset Allocation monthly publication: after a historically calm summer, September is likely to be a month of transition towards more (...)

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Strategy How are hedge funds positioning after the market correction?

L/S Equity managers have decently navigated these markets, generating small positive alpha (especially on their short positions) but their implicit stance is diverging across regions. U.S. managers detracted only marginal alpha. They maintained their modest overall exposures (...)

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Strategy Caution in order for emerging currencies in short term

For nearly one month, the renewed strains experienced by US long rates following the good October employment data (despite the shutdown) have triggered a new correction on the part of emerging currencies (even though they have stabilised somewhat of (...)

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Strategy Is traditional asset allocation no longer an option?

Sometimes, I wonder if asset allocators realise how lucky they used to be. We used to have the luxury of combining bonds with equities to form a diversified portfolio. Sovereign bonds – from many countries – used to be of high quality. But I am afraid that those times are now (...)

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Strategy Philippe Aurain: "The choice of flexibility is not trivial"

According to Philippe Aurain, CEO of Fédéris MANAGEMENT, given the diversity of processes called Flexible Management; we should probably define a typology helping investors to find themselves in a multi-faceted (...)

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Strategy BNP Paribas Wealth Management publishes its investment strategy for 2015

BNP Paribas Wealth Management has published its global economic outlook for 2015, highlighting ten main investment themes to enable its clients to direct their investments to growth themes.

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Strategy Preparing for higher yields: Downgrading equities and credit

According to Goldman Sachs, the likelihood of a rise in government bond yields has increased and Goldman Sachs see this as a key aspect of the near-term macro outlook...

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