Fed hikes and imaginary monsters
I am out of ideas. Over the past few weeks a growing sense of déjà vu has crept into everything I have tried to write.
Investment
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Asset managers expect government bond carnage
Government bonds are headed for negative returns in 2016, international asset managers believe. Their outlook for the next 12 months is at its most negative since April 2013.
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Decoding the ECB ‘disappointment’
ECB President Mario Draghi disappointed markets on Thursday. While the Bank delivered a 10 basis point cut to the deposit rate to an historic -0.3%, and extended the deadline of its asset purchase programme by six months, it kept the main refinancing and marginal lending rates steady at 5 and 30 basis points respectively.
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What’s the place of smart beta in a portfolio?
Smart beta strategies are quickly growing in popularity, according to research commissioned by Invesco Powershares among 400 investors in Europe. However, overall portfolio allocation remains modest and the ways investors use non-market cap weighted index products varies widely across Europe.
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High yield bond flows recover quickly
The high yield bond sell-off has proved short-lived. After two months of strong net outflows, fortunes for the asset class have reversed once again. For other fixed income asset classes, fund flows remained negative.
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Hedge fund throws in towel citing cost pressures
Jersey-based hedge fund BlueCrest Capital Management is to return investors’ money after being hit by outflows and pressures on its profitability through fees, staffing and meeting client needs.
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On the crossroads of migration and investing
People tend to dedicate most of their time to thinking through short-term solutions. While central banks saw QE as the easiest way to provide an imminent boost to their ailing economies, the current migration crisis is just as much a product of short-termist thinking.
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Investors find their way back to EM equities
Emerging market equities have returned to favour with European investors, for as long as it lasts. After 10 straight months of net outflows, money is finally flowing into the asset class again, according to the latest Morningstar fund flows data.
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Will stock volatility flip when rates rise?
Low volatility stocks lose their defensive characteristics when rates go up and markets are under stress, fund managers told the audience at Expert Investor Norway last week. Is this a risk which could seriously unsettle markets, after the huge inflows into low volatility strategies in the past years?
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Subordinated debt: the inverse of a convertible bond
The planned issue of billions of euros in subordinated bonds by Europe’s major banks was a hotly debated topic at Expert Investor Italy this week in Milan. The majority of investors from bond-prone Italy look favourable at this relatively new asset class, but speakers’ opinions were mixed.
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Fed rate hike prospect hits EM debt flows
In anticipation of a Fed rate hike, institutional investors have withdrawn $1bn from their emerging market debt holdings in the past two weeks, according to data collated by the International Institute of Finance.
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Subordinated bank debt receives warm reception from Swiss investors
Close to half of Switzerland’s investors will buy the subordinated debt that European banks are expected to issue in the coming years, according to a poll held at Expert Investor Switzerland.