News category: Credit And Fixed Income

Consultant NEPC recommends the USD2.5 billion Stanislaus County Employees’ Retirement Association add a short-term treasury inflation-protected securities index fund into its lineup as opportunities in fixed income become more attractive. NEPC assumes that over a 10-year period short-term TIPS will have half the volatility of longer-term securities at 3.3% compared to intermediate and long-term TIPS at 6% and 12.4% respectively, according to a presentation from StanCERA’s January board meeting available on MandateConnect.

Continue reading

U.S. institutional investors are starting the year off wary of potential volatility in global markets, as they weigh the future impact of rising or flattening rates and macro events. Some investors expect volatility to remain elevated throughout 2024 due to uncertainty around the current path of economic growth, inflation, interest rates and policy actions in the U.S.

Continue reading

The School Employees Retirement System of Ohio is implementing a first-of-its-kind framework to manage exchange-traded funds in house to add diversification to its fixed income allocation. The new ETF investments, currently worth USD13 million, are focused on government Treasuries and will help the USD18 billion pension relieve some pressure from its roster of external fixed income managers, which are currently short on government assets.

Continue reading

Kari Vatanen, chief investment officer at Veritas, a EUR4.3 billion pension insurance company in Helsinki, said he is adding credit carry strategies to his alternatives portfolio as a way to boost returns. The changeup comes with the expectation that there won’t be a wider financial crisis next year, Vatanen said.

Continue reading

The USD11.5 billion New Hampshire Retirement System is downsizing its allocation to global equities as a result of its strategic asset allocation review for 2023. NHRS’ independent investment committee earlier this month approved changes including slashing its public equity allocation from to 40% from 50%, increasing private credit to10% from 5% and creating a new allocation to private infrastructure of 5%, according to the meeting minutes. 

Continue reading

Nothing screams holiday season quite like watching equity managers scramble through a third quarter that’s been hampered by challenges in global equities and concerns surrounding foreign economic data. Wilshire’s liquid alternatives monitor has provided a bird’s eye view of how some equity managers are holding up, reporting that overall sentiment over this quarter has been marred by needs for adjustment and caution. Equity hedge managers experienced a challenging time in September, stamped by losses in equity long-short funds due to the bearish market, whereas short portfolios and market-neutral strategies managed to show some resilience.

Continue reading

MandateConnect data show most U.S. public plans with a policy or target investment in fixed income are underweight that allocation commitment.

Continue reading

In this week’s EQDerivatives People Move Roundup, we report on the latest buyside and sellside moves, including new additions at Invesco and Itaú Asset Management, job searches at CalPERS and The State Board Administration of Florida and more.

Continue reading

The systematic investing landscape is poised for substantial portfolio construction changes this decade. Invesco’s recently published Global Systematic Investing Study, with insights from 130 institutional investors managing a collective USD22.5 trillion in assets, highlighted that systematic investors globally are employing a wider range of investment strategies and embracing artificial intelligence as a part of their investment process.

Continue reading

Officials on the state investments team at the AUD100 billion (USD64 billion) government-owned investment company QIC are entering synthetic credit and equity option protection strategies as a way to navigate market conditions. “We like using synthetic credit to improve our liquidity profile [as] this means we can commit to holding less-liquid assets that have compelling long term return prospects,” said James Esland, an investment director in the state investments team in Brisbane.

Continue reading