Portfolio Management
-
Hedged global bonds could be answer to DC volatility problemMany defined contribution plan sponsors are seeking solutions aimed at reducing undue volatility — excess volatility without a commensurate increase in return — that can prevent a plan and its participants from achieving their long-term objectives. Our research suggests hedged global bonds may be
-
Analysis shows prospects for fixed-income markets are not so rosyGenerally, history provides useful lessons for the future. For fixed-income markets, however, the recent history is downright misleading. To wit, let us compare the total performance of equities, as proxied by the S&P 500 Total Return index, and fixed-income markets, as measured by the Barclays ...
-
Public funds should take good look at liability matching
Two very good recent books about pension finance, “State and Local Pensions” by Alicia Munnell and “Pension Finance” by Barton Waring, touch on the many daunting challenges faced by public pension systems.
-
Currency volatility can be antidote for interest rate risk
Worldwide, investors in fixed-income portfolios share a common concern — the risk of rising interest rates as global economies recover and central banks tighten monetary policy.
-
An underestimate: Three different approaches to estimating outlook on equitiesWe believe that the prevailing long-term outlook for equities is too pessimistic.
-
The great return gapInvestors are considering dramatic changes to their asset allocation strategy because of weak returns in fixed income.
-
Looking for dividends in new placesDividends are the last bastion for investors seeking income and returns above inflation. But chasing yield in defensive sectors and ignoring valuation may jeopardize pension return targets.
-
An unconstrained approach to bond market investingInvestors today are facing numerous headwinds. One solution is unconstrained, absolute-return-oriented bond market investing.
-
VIX futures, Treasuries and tail hedgingThis note outlines the main issues surrounding the use of volatility futures and U.S. Treasury bonds as part of a tail-hedging program. Each approach presents a unique set of challenges and deserves to be looked at separately.
-
Give Europe a chance: How to cut through the noiseThe optimal approach for finding European investments with the greatest potential for real returns amid the noise of the ongoing crisis requires both quantitative and qualitative equity analytics in a balanced way.
-
Better core allocations: Feasible modern portfolio theory via risk parityToo many investors are missing out on the only free lunch in finance: diversification.
-
Why long/short attribution is difficultEvery client invested in a market-neutral portfolio wants to know how much value is added by the short positions. Answering this question is much harder than it appears. Indeed, there is no commercially available tool that yields a thorough, unbiased and widely accepted analysis of the ...
-
Investing for cash balance plansAs cash balance plans have experienced a rise in popularity, the search for optimal investment allocations has continued.
-
Asia's growth markets can offer superior valueInvestors tend to think of pan-Asia as a growth story — and with good reason. Most Asian countries are growing their GDPs at double or more of the annual growth of developed markets. Most investors go to Asia in search of this growth story. But in our experience, Asia offers equal and perhaps ...
-
2008 revealed flaws in modern portfolio theory2008 is a terribly misaligned year. It is the “annus horribilis,” the year everything in finance went wrong. But instead of complaining about it, we should be quietly celebrating it because 2008 highlighted the dangers of everyone slavishly following modern portfolio theory.
