Financial Times (July 2)
“Some of the biggest investment banks and fund managers have advised their clients to take profit from the dizzying rally on Wall Street that followed the mid-March crash. Instead, they say, look to Europe.”
Tags: Advised, Clients, Crash, Dizzying, Europe, Fund managers, Investment banks, Profit, Rally, U.S., Wall Street
Financial Times (December 2)
“Investors are becoming increasingly concerned about how climate risks will impact their portfolios.” TCI, one activist hedge fund, “has warned Airbus, Moody’s, Charter Communications and other companies to improve their pollution disclosure or it will vote against their directors and called for asset owners to fire fund managers that did not insist on climate transparency.”
Tags: Activist, Airbus, Asset owners, Charter, Climate risks, Directors, Disclosure, Fund managers, Hedge-fund, Impact, Investors, Moody's, Pollution, Portfolios, TCI, Vote
IPE Real Assets (September/October Issue)
“Real estate is often said to be a long-term, buy-and-hold asset class for institutional investors. But the success of investments invariably comes down to getting the timing right.” Recently, “a handful of fund managers” have “sold to bigger parties, either fully or partially.” This raises the question whether the latest round of M&A is a signal. Though it is a “possible canary,” there are other reasons for M&A. The prevailing outlook amongst investors and managers is for “a supportive market environment in the short to medium term” and “an extended cycle, albeit a flat one in terms of capital value growth.”
Tags: Asset class, Buy-and-hold, Canary, Extended cycle, Fund managers, Institutional, Investors, M&A, Real estate, Timing, Value growth
Institutional Investor (December 1)
“Next year’s first review of Europe’s Solvency II regulations has given fund managers and consultants a platform to voice their concerns.” Though “most asset managers agree that the rules have enhances insurers’ understanding of investment portfolio risk” many also feel that the “policymakers mispriced asset risks” leading to unintended consequences. In particular, restrictions that “effectively ruled out some assets which could have provided higher, albeit riskier, returns” have proven particularly odious for annuities.
Tags: Asset managers, Asset risk, Europe, Fund managers, Insurers, Investment, Mispriced, Policymakers, Portfolio risk, Regulations, Restrictions Annuities, Rules, Solvency II
Institutional Investor (September 12)
“Weak markets and worries about growth are putting pressure on fund managers across Asia. Chinese stocks barely began recovering from the summer 2015 meltdown before taking another hit earlier this year, while investors in Japan turned bearish on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policies as growth slowed.”
Tags: Abe, Asia, Bearish, China, Fund managers, Growth, Investors, Japan, Markets, Meltdown, Pressure, Weak
Bloomberg (May 31)
“Recent scandals at Takata (deadly airbags) and Toshiba (dodgy accounting), and Sharp’s ongoing angling for a government rescue when it should be shedding unprofitable businesses, are a reminder of how far Japan still needs to go.” Despite recent governance reforms, “Japan remains 30 years behind its peers in how its companies are run. Corporate Japan still indulges in cross-shareholdings and permits itself male-dominated boards, and the country’s timid media does little to hold it to account.” Still, progress is being made. “Some companies are starting to display the behavior Abe wants, and for which” overseas fund managers have “been agitating.”
Tags: Abe, Accounting, Airbags, ata, Boards, Cross-shareholdings, Fund managers, Governance, Japan, Media, Reforms, Sharp, Toshiba, Unprofitable
Institutional Investor (June 19)
“Income potential and low interest rates are fueling pension fund interest in commercial real estate.” Fund managers struggling to find “investments that can match long-term liabilities and fight inflation” are finding “some measure of calm” in real estate.
Tags: Fund managers, Income, Inflation, Interest rates, Investments, Liabilities, Pension funds, Potential, Real estate
Wall Street Journal (December 26, 2013)
“The Nikkei’s strong performance this year hasn’t dented the enthusiasm of international fund managers.” In the first 11 months of 2012 foreign investors brought inflows of 830 billion yen into Japan’s stock market. In 2013, inflows from foreign investors soared to 14.8 trillion during the same period.
Tags: 2012, Enthusiasm, Foreign investors, Fund managers, International, Japan, Nikkei, Performance, Stock market
Reuters (September 25)
“Long-term foreign investors are looking into small cap Japanese shares…. Some fund managers have been dabbling in subcontractors of big Japanese exporters while others look at companies whose coverage by analysts is low and have been neglected by international investors.” At recent Tokyo conferences, the number of overseas money managers has dramatically increased, with many attendees driven by a desire to find out more about small caps.
Investment Week (May 14, 2013)
A recent sentiment poll by Bank of America Merrill Lynch shows that worries over the commodity sector are moving to the fore as fears over Europe dissipate. “A quarter of respondents to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s monthly poll on manager sentiment said a commodity collapse is the number one tail risk, an increase from 18% in April.” In contrast, respondents identifying “EU sovereigns and banks as the number one tail risk dropped to 29% from 42% in April.”
Tags: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Banks, Commodities, EU, Fund managers, Sentiment, Sovereigns, Tail risk
