Icelandic investors binge on foreign assets
Following the lifting of capital controls in March this year, Icelandic investors can again freely invest in foreign assets. And they are already taking full advantage.
Risk
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Don’t forget about base currency risk
Standard practice among investors is to hedge away foreign currency risk in fixed-income portfolios. But that could increase another sort of currency risk that is often missed.
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Finnish investors stuck in high yield and EMD
Investors in Finland have increased their allocations to emerging market debt and high-yield bonds in an effort to maintain yields. Though spreads have compressed below their long-term average, they feel forced to maintain, or even increase their allocations.
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Institutional investors manage risk with alternatives and smart beta
Institutional investors are changing their attitudes to managing risk in their portfolios, according to a survey from Natixis Global Asset Management. Risk budgeting has become commonplace, and allocations to alternatives and smart beta are being beefed up.
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Turning politics into data
Nikko’s effort to integrate Eurasia Group’s political risk analysis into its investment strategy is about two years old. Robert Samson, Nikko’s senior portfolio manager for multi-asset investing, explains how it has been working.
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Economists: Trump is biggest risk to global markets
Donald Trump’s foreign policy is the biggest risk to global markets, according to a survey of economists conducted by Deutsche Wealth Management.
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Institutional investors believe return targets are out of reach
Six in 10 institutional investors in the northern half of Europe believe they will fail to generate their target return over the next three years, according to a poll by Union Investment. Unlike their peers elsewhere, German investors put the blame squarely on the low-yield environment.
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Protectionist presidency poses biggest risk to US equities – Rathbones
Rathbones asset allocation strategist Edward Smith has argued that investors should “pay close attention to the insidious creep of protectionism, as US politicians and elsewhere look to harness the disenfranchised.”
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Tapping into change: managing risks and opportunities in Emerging Markets
The demographic shifts and fast pace of change in emerging markets present compelling investment opportunities, but also significant risks. Glen Finegan, Head of Emerging Market Equities, explains how he believes the asset class is best approached to uncover the most attractive, quality companies.
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Esma sees risks building up for EU securities markets
The European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) considers market and credit risk in Europe’s equity and bond markets ‘very high’, it said in its latest risk outlook. It noted Brexit may increase risks further along the line.
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Investors in Barcelona swap duration risk for credit risk
Barcelona’s investors are remarkably unanimous in their fixed income allocation. Almost all of them are overweight short-duration bonds and eight in 10 interviewees are planning to decrease their allocation to long-duration European sovereign debt.
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Investors in wait-and-see mode as data give few hints
Financial markets have lacked direction in recent months, with the main equity indices all very close to where they were at the start of the year. Macroeconomic data are not strong enough to reinvigorate the bull market, yet not sufficiently weak to stoke fears of recession.