Is this time different? The dragonfly is often represented as an agent of change, with its agility reflected in its ability to move comfortably on land, water or air. That symbol of change is further reflected in the search for a deeper meaning “beyond the surface”, as exemplified by the insect’s scurrying flight across the […]

Marco Polo believed in unicorns and went looking for them in his trips to Asia. When he finally came across an animal that fitted his conception of having a horn on his head – a rhinoceros – he was bound by his paradigm and convinced that the mystical animal was sighted.

The condor is often thought of as a somewhat unsightly bird with a head that is largely characterised by the patches of naked skin that are only sparsely interrupted by scraggly feather growth. Its image isn’t helped by its macabre dietary habits of scavenging for food by feasting on animal corpses, often overeating to the […]

  Do squirrels ever forget where they put their nuts? Legend has it that squirrels simply absent-mindedly bury nuts in the hope of sniffing some out in the future – whether they are the ones they buried or otherwise. But in 1990, Princeton University’s biology department dispelled this myth of squirrel behaviour. They discovered that […]

The 4th annual Portfolio Construction Masterclass will enable the global investment management community to impart knowledge and expertise to senior executives of provident/trust funds in the Pacific Island and Oceania region. It will also serve as a platform peer-to-peer exchange and collaboration amongst these funds.

If the correlation between equities and bonds will look different in the years ahead, what does this mean for your equity portfolio? These and other questions will be discussed at the [i3] Equities & Equity Alternatives Forum 2018.

In line with [i3]’s vision of facilitating dialogues between asset owners (fiduciary investors) and asset managers, this roundtable aims to help asset managers take stock of the changing investment environment and implications for clients’ strategy and organisational development. At this year’s roundtable, we focus on the changing nature of the relationship between asset manager, asset consultant and investor.

Last year, investors were faced with bond yields at all time lows, while the outlook for economic growth looked increasingly positive. This sparked some concerns over the possibility of rapidly rising interest rates. But investors are now increasingly accepting that we might be faced in a low yield, low growth environment for much longer than thought possible. What to do when faced with such difficult conditions?

Global markets continue to experience distortions as a result of interventionist monetary policies of the major central banks. Investors’ portfolios inevitably experience the consequences, with correlations and asset class returns less stable and unpredictable.

Does the tortoise win all the time? In the familiar ‘tortoise versus hare’ race, ‘slow and steady’ has often been held up as an important virtue of long term investing. Despite the vagaries of ad hoc opportunities, having the patience to only focus on the long horizon is expected to be the winner. While ideal, such a scenario may be too simplistic for today’s investment environment.

Investing in an environment that is undergoing significant change is a risky endeavour, even if you are conservative by nature. But such an environment makes investing especially hard if you are trying to make a reasonable prediction of returns in order to match your liabilities. Fixed income has been the default asset for most insurance investors, but will it still be going forward?

What if’s … In recent times, there is no shortage of major events impacting global markets in unexpected ways. Geopolitical specialist Alan Dupont takes Nassim Taleb’s theory further, arguing that we are going to see flocks of black swans rather than individual black swans. In the context of investor’s portfolios, how can scenario analysis enhance diversification strategies?

With bond yields rising and the promise by the US Federal Reserve of a more aggressive stance towards the longer-term outlook for rates, we are arguably at an inflection point. These moments in time are often chaotic and correlations could become more irregular, and at times break down. How do we position an equity portfolio that is robust enough to withstand such a climate?

Following the successful program in the last two years, the Investment Innovation Institute [i3] is once again pleased to convene the 3rd annual masterclass in 2017, in partnership with the Pacific Provident Fund and Social Security Forum (PPFSSF).

In a world where negative interest rates are becoming increasingly common place, we are forced to evaluated the role of bonds. For many institutional investors, the reason to invest in them is diversification, after all bonds are usually negatively correlated to equities. But with yields hovering around zero, there is little solace in bond returns during risk off periods.

In asset management, investors are faced with many choices: Do they go active or passive? Do they pick stocks through fundamental analysis or quantitative strategies? Do they manage assets in-house or do they appoint external managers? But often these binary choices are too simplistic and ignore the vast complexity of real life situations.

The basic asset allocation tenet of bonds vs equities vs cash is seen as somewhat naïve and outdated. With divergence of markets and investment regimes caused by excessive government interference, investors can no longer rely on traditional valuation metrics and expected behaviour of assets.

The perfect storm of exceptionally low returns, increased risk levels and diminished diversification opportunities await all investors. The uncertainty is further exacerbated by the divergence of global monetary policies and investment regimes of US, European Union and Japan.

Insurers have traditionally allocated capital based on a liability-driven framework. In this new era of continued uncertainty in markets and economies, significant headwinds await.

The divergence of investment regimes, monetary policies and markets will have profound impact on the drivers of portfolio construction. As the printing press at the US Federal Reserve decelerates, central banks in Europe and Japan continue to up the ante on monetary stimulus. Consequently, elevated asset valuations may indicate that we are borrowing investment returns from the future. Where will growth come from next?

The issues that equity investors face today are of a more granular nature than, for example, your traditional active versus passive debate. The rise of smart beta and factor-based strategies, the search for yield and the continuing divergence of economies all present opportunities and challenges.

The exponential growth of funds under management in the defined contribution system has transformed superannuation funds into significant players in the financial services industry. The choice regime has inevitably created a competitive landscape where these funds jostle for market share. More so than ever, member engagement, understanding of needs, profile segmentation – the key ingredients of corporate marketing – are brought to the fore of the fund’s growth strategy.

Uncertainty and volatility in the global environment remain unabated. Institutional investors have become more risk-aware and most have taken a more active stance towards asset allocation.

The perfect storm of exceptionally low returns, increased risk levels and diminished diversification opportunities await all investors. The uncertainty is further exacerbated by the divergence of global monetary policies in the major economies of US, European Union and Japan.

Insurers face the challenge of contemplating their existing business models and having to remain competitive and viable. Most insurance policies create predictable and often long-term liabilities, so intrinsically one could expect insurers to be ideal sources of long-term funding and a source of liquidity.

The effects of government intervention and regulation continue to reverberate in the global markets. Whispers of global recovery are often tempered with sporadic volatility forecasts, with geopolitical risk threatening to rear its ugly head.

The [i3] Portfolio Construction Masterclass will enable the global asset management community to impart knowledge and expertise particularly to senior executives of the various provident/pension/sovereign/trust funds in the Pacific Rim/Oceania/South & South-East Asian region.