Supply Chain Management Review (April 27)
“Global manufacturing and supply chains were severely disrupted by the COVID-19 global pandemic, forcing companies to adapt and plan for a new business reality.” This year, however, the industry “is already quickly rebounding with investments in digital transformation aimed at improving speed, resilience and sustainability. While areas of concern persist, most report that lessons from the pandemic have paved the way for new innovations.”
Tags: Adapt, COVID-19, Disrupted, DX, Investments, Manufacturing, Pandemic, Rebounding, Resilience, Speed, Supply chains, Sustainability
Institutional Investor (August 25)
“ESG investments have proven effective at reducing risk and delivering returns comparable to those of non-ESG oriented funds. During the stock market collapse in the first quarter of 2020, Morningstar found that all but two out of 26 ESG indexes suffered fewer losses than their conventional counterparts. Studies from Morgan Stanley and MSCI have found no financial trade-off in the returns delivered by ESG funds relative to traditional funds.”
Tags: Collapse, Effective, ESG, Funds, Investments, Losses, Morningstar, MSCI, Reducing risk, Returns, Stock market, Trade-off
LA Times (December 19)
In its first climate risk assessment, CalPERS, the largest U.S. pension fund, “found that one-fifth of the fund’s public market investments were in sectors that have high exposure to climate change. Those include energy, materials and buildings, transportation, and agriculture, food and forestry.” The report by CalPERS, however, didn’t go into much detail because “less than half of the 10,000-plus companies in their portfolio voluntarily disclose information about their carbon emissions.”
Tags: Agriculture, Assessment, CalPERs, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Energy, Exposure, Forestry, Investments, Materials, Pension fund, Portfolio, Risk, Transportation, U.S., Voluntary disclosure
Newsweek (October 23)
Ken Fisher, the CEO and founder of Fisher Investments, “has lost more than a billion dollars in client investments following remarks that have been widely denounced as sexist and offensive.” Fortunately, investors called him out. “As long as there are still men who think it’s OK to speak in these ways, industries will continue to send the message that business is a ‘man’s world.’ It’s time to end this — and to bury workplace sexism once and for all.”
The Economist (October 6)
“Europe has caught China’s eye. Chinese investments there have soared, to nearly €36bn ($40bn) in 2016—almost double the previous years’ total…. For the most part, this money is welcome….. However, China is also using its financial muscle to buy political influence…. It is only prudent for Europeans to be nervous.”
Tags: China, Europe, Financial muscle, Investments, Nervous, Political influence, Prudent
Industry Week (December 4)
“Investments in electric cars may soon begin to do to the transportation sector what wind and solar have done to the power sector: turn the pollution curve upside down. The price of battery packs has been plummeting by about 8 percent a year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and electric cars are now projected to become cheaper, more reliable, and more convenient than their gasoline-powered equivalents around the world by the mid-2020s.”
Institutional Investor (June 1)
Nearly a decade after the financial crisis, financial institutions still face challenges. However, the “savvy” ones are simplifying their structures and realizing efficiency gains. “For the past nine years, investments have poured into regulatory compliance and reporting initiatives. The rapid development of disruptive technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence is helping firms automate many of those processes and redirect their energy toward growth activities. Big data, analytics and digital technology shed light on what they do best—and most profitably—and enhance the customer experience.”
Tags: AI, Analytics, Big Data, Challenges, Customers, Digital technology, Disruptive technologies, Efficiency, Energy, Financial Crisis, Growth, Investments, Profit, Regulatory compliance, Reporting, Robotics, Savvy
Wall Street Journal (July 8)
“The computer glitch that led to a halt in trading at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday shows that even after years of investments in resilient and redundant networks, problems with financial technology are remarkably persistent.” The four-hour shut down and other “recent problems highlight the challenges facing companies as they transition to a digital model. Many are trying to adopt new technologies while maintaining older systems.”
Tags: Computer, Digital model, Glitch, Investments, Networks, NYSE, Technology
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
Euromoney (February Issue)
Those who quickly dismiss Bitcoin and other digital currencies may be overlooking their potential. “In theory, Bitcoin could serve two understated purposes: facilitating mobile transactions in emerging markets and, in the process, being a weapon in the so-called global currency war…. In fact, in some countries, as many as a fifth of respondents claimed that virtual-currency investments were a safer long-term bet than stocks and property.”
Tags: Bitcoin, Currency war, Emerging markets, Investments, Long term, Mobile transactions, Potential, Property, Respondents, Safety, Stocks, Virtual-currencies
