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Why China remains on track

Tue, 08 May 2012 05:28:00 GMT

Ewen Cameron Watt, chief investment strategist of BlackRock Investment Institute, thinks scaremongering about China's property bubble has been overdone. Long term trends towards growing a domestic consumer economy are on track and understanding where China is on its path to greater development will guide investment decisions globally, including in commodities and fixed income.

Danish lessons on pensions

Thu, 03 May 2012 03:42:00 GMT

Lars Rohde, chief executive of Danish pension fund giant ATP, explains the new concepts that ATP will be bringing to the UK market. These include collective defined contribution - which he says is a fairer form of risk sharing - consolidation, no choice and a different approach to investment strategy.

The rise of volatility ETFs

Tue, 08 May 2012 05:57:00 GMT

Michael John Lytle, managing director of Source, explains why the volatility ETPs that Source offers, in conjunction with Nomura and JPMorgan, are constructed differently. Despite the huge growth in interest in these instruments, he says they are not for retail investors.

Fixed income ETPs take off

Thu, 03 May 2012 05:48:00 GMT

Stephen Cohen, head of iShares’ EMEA Investment Strategies and Insights team, explains the huge growth in the fixed income exchange traded product industry. Areas which have seen more product innovation and higher inflows include high yield, investment grade and emerging market credit.

Look for Asian companies, not countries

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:14:00 GMT

Hugh Young, managing director of Aberdeen Asset Management Asia, says although earnings growth for Asian companies is likely to be slower than last year, attractive opportunities remain. The secret, however, is to look at companies and their potential, not countries and their GDP.

Engagement is not always best

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:02:00 GMT

Will Goodhart, chief executive of the CFA Society of the UK, says engagement by asset managers with companies on governance issues might not always be in a client's best interests. Instead of insisting upon this, he says the Kay review into how markets operate should focus on the link between executive compensation and value creation.

What central bankers won't admit

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 06:54:00 GMT

Jim Leaviss, global macro bond fund manager at M&G, thinks bond markets have changed for ever. Developed world central bankers have no option but to keep yields lower than inflation, he says, but they dare not admit it. As such, inflation linked assets are a good choice and remain underpriced. Likewise, high yield bonds are actually at far lower risk of default than they seem and are also a good bet.

Betting large on emerging markets

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 05:10:00 GMT

Jerome Booth, head of research at Ashmore Investment Management, explains why he has invested 90 per cent of his portfolio in emerging markets, and why he would recommend everyone else commits at least 50 per cent. Prejudice is the only thing holding people back, he says, and that is changing rapidly. Depending on strategy, surplus currencies, equities or corporate debt are the EM sectors to watch.

Why central banks love Treasuries

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 04:12:00 GMT

John Nugee, head of official institutions at State Street Global Advisors, explains why central bank reserve managers have reduced their exposure to commercial banks but clung on to low-yielding US, UK and German sovereign debt. He believes emerging market debt will grow as a reserve asset, although this may not necessarily be in the interests of emerging nations.

US retirees and emerging markets

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:23:51 GMT

Curtis Arledge, chief executive of BNY Mellon’s asset and wealth management businesses, says as a wave of investors hit retirement age, emerging markets, with their need for capital, could prove a good fit. Many are mature enough for large investments, but even frontier market options could reward the long-term investor. He cautions on political risk and advises emphasising countries with better governance systems, such as Brazil. Tom Stabile is Associate Editor of FundFire, an FT publication.

Smart beta is better

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 07:04:00 GMT

Chris Ford, head of investment Emea at Towers Watson, explains why pension funds should be taking a leaf out of hedge funds' books - opting for smart beta and reducing exposure to so-called high quality sovereign debt. Smart beta options might include fundamental indexed investments or catastrophe bonds.

Corporate bond yields attract

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 04:31:00 GMT

Ken Buntrock, global bond portfolio manager at Loomis Sayles, explains the attraction of corporate credit. With yields on investment grade debt so much better than the risk-free rate, interest is growing. Loomis Sayles favours financials. Mr Buntrock agrees emerging market yields also look attractive, but cautions on risk.

A bond investor outperforms

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 05:41:00 GMT

Stephane Monier, chief investment officer for fixed income and currencies at Lombard Odier, explains the logic of using a fundamentally weighted rather than the traditional cap-weighted approach to bond investing. Lombard Odier's indices are weighted according to the borrower's ability to repay, be it a country or a company, instead of how much the entity has borrowed. The new approach delivers outperformance in fixed income investing compared to the traditional method.

Active and passive dividend strategies

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 02:40:00 GMT

Quintin Price, head of fundamental equity at BlackRock, says increasing life expectancy has fuelled interest in dividend stocks. Depending on life expectancy and proximity to retirement age, investors might choose an actively managed fund, a multi-asset approach, or a dividend-focused ETF as the most sensible way to ensure a steady income.

How to win in a Get Rich Slow world

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 06:52:00 GMT

Bill Mott, manager of PSigma Asset Management's income fund, thinks an income strategy is sound advice. Income stocks can continue to deliver yield in this Get Rich Slow environment, and when the rest of the investment world notices the good sense of this approach, the stocks will gain from a massive upwards rerating. Pharmaceuticals represent the sector that PSigma likes best.

30% Club makes progress

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:15:00 GMT

Emma Howard Boyd, sustainable investment and governance director for Jupiter Asset Management, says the 30% Club is making progress. The association, which aims to to promote greater representation of women on boards, reports that 100 women were appointed to FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 boards last year. Ms Howard Boyd says the 30% target is still a long way off, but she would not like to see a quota imposed.

ETF debate switches to their use

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:50:00 GMT

Christos Costandinides, European head of ETF research and strategy at Deutsche Bank says last year's preoccupation with the risks involved with investing in ETFs is fading. The focus is now switching to how they can be used in a broader investment portfolio and also to niche products.

EM debt looks better than ever

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:17:00 GMT

Helene Williamson, head of emerging market debt at First State Investments, thinks many investors have not fully appreciated the massive deterioration in the credit quality of developed markets since 2007. At the same time, she says, emerging market fundamentals have vastly improved. She says First State is keen on eastern Europe, Turkey and Argentina at the moment.

Oil sector's skills gap is unsafe

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:13:00 GMT

Matt Christensen, global head of responsible investment at Axa Investment Managers, warns research shows that boom and bust cycles in the oil industry has led to a shortage of managers with adequate skills. He calls on investors to ask tough questions or witness a new Deepwater Horizon accident in the future.

What to do about pay at the top

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:26:00 GMT

Sacha Sadan, director of corporate governance at Legal & General Investment Management, agrees something needs to be done about executive pay. However, he thinks demanding a binding vote by shareholders will not help. Instead, L&G is pushing for simplicity, transparency and long-term pay schemes that align with the interests of long-term shareholders.

Oxfam's asset management debut

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:57:00 GMT

Nicholas Colloff, head of innovation at Oxfam GB, explains Oxfam's role in a new fund it has set up in conjunction with Symbiotics. The fund will invest in financial intermediaries such as small enterprise banks, microfinance banks and specialist funds that focus not only on financial returns but also on social impact.

Gervais Williams on slow finance

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:52:00 GMT

Gervais Williams, managing director of MAM Funds, on his new book, 'Slow Finance', which explains how to invest now we can no longer assume asset price increases will continue. He says a 25-year credit boom has left investors terrified to leave an index and led them to overlook opportunities. He says it is time to change to old fashioned investing principles and to look for small companies that will deliver dividend growth.

Anne Richards on capital controls

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:05:00 GMT

Anne Richards, chief investment officer at Aberdeen Asset Management, says the possibility of European capital controls could be the greatest risk facing investors in the year ahead. Strong European companies remain a good bet, however, as do well selected emerging markets investments.

ETF future remains bright

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:08:00 GMT

Debbie Fuhr, independent ETF strategist, says the future for ETFs remains bright despite poor asset growth over the past year. She says the industry will continue to grow in every measure and that many of the impending regulatory changes will prove beneficial for both investors and the industry.

Economic growth will steer currencies

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:15:00 GMT

Ugo Lancioni, head of currency at Neuberger Berman, says relative economic growth will determine currency movements in the long term. He is positive for the euro's prospects even in the short term because he says people have been bearish on it for so long. He also sees opportunities now following the recent drawdown by emerging market currencies investors, which has left some nursing a loss, but has made those currencies cheaper.

There's nowhere to hide

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:24:00 GMT

Habib Subjally, head of global equities at First State Investments, says in the long term it has paid to invest at the point of maximum pessimism. He counsels against looking at regions such as emerging markets, whose correlated performances have shown there is nowhere to hide. Instead he says low valuations present an opportunity to pick individual stocks that will be long term future winners.

How not to sell at the bottom

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:14:00 GMT

Greg Davies, head of behavioural and quantitative finance at Barclays Wealth, offers advice on how to control your emotional response to volatile markets so you do not sell at the bottom. Learning your financial personality and structuring your portfolio to feel less anxious in a downturn will deliver emotional liquidity.

The truth behind the ETF headlines

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:54:00 GMT

Nizam Hamid, head of ETF strategy at Lyxor Asset Management, says trading volumes for synthetic ETFs suggest these instruments remain more popular with traders than traditional physical ETFs. Also, despite the headwinds from the sovereign debt crisis, the European ETF industry has continued to attract strong inflows this year with single country funds linked to Germany proving particularly popular with investors.

Why offshore renminbi bonds are a good bet

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:40:00 GMT

Geoff Lunt, investment director of Asian currencies at HSBC Global Asset Management thinks investing in the offshore renminbi bond market should reward investors. He says the renminbi should continue to appreciate against the US dollar and yields, which sank to as low as 2 per cent in the summer, have now risen to 4 per cent. He says HSBC holds a positive outlook for China generally, but even if China did suffer an abrupt slowdown the offshore bonds are dependent on the ability of the issuer, not China, to honour them.

The end of long term investing in equities?

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:15:00 GMT

Gerry Fowler, global head of equity and derivatives strategy at BNP Paribas, thinks long term benchmark investing is going to struggle for the rest of the decade. Investors should no longer look for equities at fair value, which relied on the exuberant investor, and instead should seek discounts of 20-30 per cent to fair value. He recommends looking for opportunities in relative value and is focusing on a call option relative value strategy based on emerging markets and the S&P 500 to mitigate against significant downside risk.

Europe presents distressed debt opportunities

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:32:00 GMT

Gina Germano, partner at Goldbridge Capital Partners, says the European sovereign debt crisis is beginning to present significant opportunities in distressed debt as banks look to clean up their balance sheets. Europe is behind US in terms of non-bank institutional ownership of distressed debt, but Ms Germano expects this to change. Goldbridge is looking for 20 per cent or better in terms of yield and expects to see more such deals becoming available.

Why ETFs are outperforming

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:08:00 GMT

Ted Hood, chief executive of Source, says ETFs have continued to attract strong inflows while conventional funds have suffered sharp outflows because they deliver on their promise. He thinks increased regulatory scrutiny will only help the industry in the long run. He also talks about the impact of the eurozone crisis on ETF asset flows.

Poland and Russia will be first to bounce back

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 04:57:00 GMT

Marcus Svedberg, chief economist at East Capital Asset Management, says eastern Europe has been taken hostage by the crisis in western Europe. But he thinks that, once the situation in western Europe improves, emerging markets, and especially Poland and Russia which have such strong fundamentals, will benefit from the improvement in sentiment.

Pan-Africa pay day will come

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:34:00 GMT

Graham Stock, chief strategist at Insparo Asset Management, explains why he believes in a pan-African approach. To start with, risk is better priced in Africa than in developed markets and underlying fundamentals are stronger. But investors wanting to isolate the frontier story should limit their exposure to South Africa, he says, because it tends to be more correlated with broader emerging markets. They should also beware the trend for Africa daily liquidity funds, he says.

People need to work longer and save more

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:35:00 GMT

David Knox, senior partner with Mercer Consulting, says this year's Melbourne Mercer Global Pensions Index shows all countries could do better on pensions. The best countries feature large compulsory retirement schemes that are not reliant on the public sector. The Netherlands tops the league but Japan joins China and India in the bottom three. Even the best can make improvements in contribution rates and encourage people to work longer.

Fund of hedge funds bad press was wrong

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:32:00 GMT

Jeff Holland, managing director and co-founder of Liongate Capital Management, says that recent bad press on funds of hedge fund returns vs hedge fund indices was based on unreliable figures. In addition, he says although hedge funds generally proved to be correlated with the broader market during the financial crisis, they held up relatively well. Lessons have also been learned on transparency.

Why investing in infrastructure makes sense

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:59:00 GMT

Boe Pahari, head of infrastructure for Europe at AMP Capital Investors, on why investing in infrastructure makes sense. He says western Europe in particular offers relatively low risk infrastructure projects that will generate moderate returns in the high single digit and low double digit range. Investors should either look at investing in pooled funds or make sure they have the inhouse expertise to assess the relative risks of different projects. They should also be prepared to lock away their money for at least five years.

Major pension fund invests in farm land

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 19:42:41 GMT

Roger Ferguson, chief executive of TIAA-CREF, one of the leading retirement service providers in the United States, talks to the FT’s Gillian Tett about retirement challenges in the US. Mr Ferguson says his firm is increasingly acquiring farm land in the US, Eastern Europe, Australia and Brazil as long term investments.

Time to think outside the box

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 05:07:00 GMT

Carl Hess, global head of investment at Towers Watson, on investing with today's uncertain outlook. Pension funds need to think outside the box, he says, and be prepared to leave their comfort zones. Exposure to developing nations would be a good strategy and a basket of investments could include currency and real assets. Gold remains a good hedge for pension funds, he says, adding funds must be prepared for inflation, deflation and volatility.

Step up action on excessive pay

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 04:23:00 GMT

George Dallas, director corporate governance at F&C Investments, says shareholders have to do much more on limiting excessive pay. He says the only solution would be to mobilise more investors to play an active role in this discussion. He says he is not convinced that making voting on remuneration mandatory, such as in the Netherlands, would help.

Asia can save the world again

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:17:00 GMT

Anthony Chan, Asian economist at AllianceBernstein, on the outlook for Asia. He says although the grip on fiscal policy might be tighter in most Asian economies due to larger fiscal deficits than in 2008, there is still scope to stimulate domestic economies and reduce interest rates. These measures would help ameliorate the negative impact of a new downturn in the west.

Long road to pensions solutions

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 03:12:00 GMT

Mark Tennant, senior adviser to JPMorgan and an organiser of the Gleneagles conference, outlines the key issues raised at the event. He said this year's conference on pensions and savings, held on September 16 & 17, focused on communication in the industry (particularly the outlook for advice as the industry prepares for the retail distribution review), risk sharing, and building scale in pensions. The issues are examined in detail in the interviews that follow.

Pensions industry is dysfunctional

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:35:00 GMT

Mark Hyde Harrison, chairman elect of the National Association of Pension Funds, on how economies of scale are needed to rescue a pensions industry that is dysfunctional. He says other countries are doing a better job than the UK in encouraging the formation of supertrusts. He says pooled schemes would be more likely to act in members' interests and the improved governance, design and cost savings could deliver returns amounting to an extra 1 per cent per year.

Pensions lessons from Australia

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:13:00 GMT

Jeremy Cooper, chairman of retirement income at Challenger, says an evaluation of Australia's superannuation scheme reveals it could work more in members' interests. He says his group identified the need for fewer funds, for example, as this would deliver cost savings. But he says, contrary to expectations, the self-managed super fund system, allowing some to look after their own pensions investments, was working very well -- showing that people are able to make good independent decisions about their retirement savings.

RDR ushers in need for simplified advice

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:23:00 GMT

Philip Warland, head of public policy at Fidelity, on how the coming retail distribution review (RDR) and auto-enrolment into pension schemes, will create the need for affordable advice, but there are difficulties in how this can be delivered. He says some of his ideas are in conflict with solutions being proposed by the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Benchmarks for affordability and quality

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:30:00 GMT

Elizabeth Corley, chief executive Allianz Global Investors Europe, says the retail distribution review (RDR) and Nest, the UK's coming auto-enrolment pension scheme, offer an opportunity to revisit occupational pension schemes in the UK that she hopes the industry will respond to. Helping consumers to understand quality is an important factor, she says, adding her working group had proposed learning from the US 'safe harbor' labelling for pension products.

Managing and communicating pension risk

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:56:00 GMT

Tom Boardman, pensions expert, on managing and communicating pension risk. He says his working group identified that more could be done to help consumers understand and compare risks and products. He says there had been suggestions for visual illustrations to help consumers understand, he also says the industry should try to standardise criteria used in illustrations of risk and return so that consumers could more readily compare pensions and assess their future pension income.

Underestimating how long you're going to live

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 03:46:00 GMT

Brett Hammond, managing director of TIAA-Cref, says the US experience suggests a disciplined approach to pensions savings is essential. People should start with an adequate savings rate, invest those savings appropriately for their circumstances, adopt a position where they will take guaranteed income when they retire, and finally get good advice on all those decisions from an expert. He says as the UK is moving towards the US model where personal choice and personal responsibility would figure much higher, steps should be taken to help those individuals with their choices.

Things are really not that bad

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:14:00 GMT

Chris Alderson, president of international equity at T Rowe Price International, on investment opportunities. He says valuations are cheap, the corporate world is in very good shape and emerging market countries still have a lot of policy tools at their disposal. The problem, he says, lies in convincing investors that things are really not that bad.

How best to invest in China

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:00:00 GMT

Jim McCaughan, chief executive of Principal Global Investors, on how best to invest in China. He says investors should make sure they have long term exposure to China, but that volatility also represents an opportunity in the short term. He cautions China will not do well if there is a US or European recession, so investors should also make sure they are diversified into something like a global emerging markets fund.