Investment Grade Corporate Bonds: Understanding Manager Performance
Investor appetite for investment grade fixed income grew significantly last year but active managers are coming under scrutiny....
As Operational Risks Evolve, Investors Must Scrutinise Service Providers
Pension regulators around the globe are sending clear messages that investors must strengthen their operational frameworks and...
Revisiting the Case for Listed Real Assets
Four years ago, Listed Real Assets (LRA) boasted some of the strongest long-term risk-adjusted returns of any asset class....
Climate and Biodiversity in Equity Investing
The climate imperative is driving new practices across all asset classes. Equity portfolios are typically on the strategic front...
Investor Spotlight: New London CIV CIO Champions Client-centred Thinking
Last month brought the announcement of a new Chief Investment Officer for London CIV – one of the eight asset pooling companies...
Manager Intelligence and Market Trends - February 2024
bfinance’s quarterly report in February 2024: read the team’s latest insights on institutional investor activity, risk appetite,...
Open-end Infrastructure Withstands Investor Cooldown
The year 2023 brought a slowdown in fundraising across private infrastructure funds – and private markets more broadly.
Fixed Income with Impact? GSS+ Bonds and Beyond - Sector in Brief
Recent years have brought significant developments for the GSS+ (Green, Social, Sustainability et al) fixed income market. There...
Investor Spotlight: Blue Sky Pioneers Integrated Portfolio Management
The Dutch pension industry is undergoing seismic shifts. Long-anticipated reforms enacted in July 2023 ushered in a Defined...
Natural Capital Investing
Strong market fundamentals and climate impact potential have driven a surge in institutional investor demand for ‘natural...
Endowment & Foundation Investment Survey
In October 2023, 61 senior endowment, foundation and charity/nonprofit investors across 16 countries contributed data and...
Investor Spotlight: The Evolution of Italy’s Pension Landscape
More than two decades have passed since the arrival of complementary pension provision in Italy, which brought with it a massive...
What Is Sustainable Infrastructure Investing Now?
What does sustainable investing look like now in infrastructure? What are the major strategy/fund types available currently to...
Manager Intelligence and Market Trends - November 2023
bfinance’s quarterly report in November 2023: read the team’s latest insights on institutional investor activity, risk appetite,...
Searching for GEMs in ‘All Country’ Global Equity Strategies
In the landscape of ‘global’ active equity strategies, the pendulum has—slowly but surely—swung toward strategies that span both...
Time for Charities to Upgrade Investment Approach, Clarify ESG
Thanks to recent guidance from the Charity Commission for England and Wales, UK charities became the latest cohort of...
‘Ex-China’ Emerging Markets: A New Great Wall in Equities?
New manager research from bfinance reveals the proliferation of ‘Emerging Markets ex-China’ equity strategies. This is now...
Currency Overlays: Active Management is Back
Active currency overlays and ‘currency for alpha’ managers struggled for much of the ‘ZIRP’ era. Now, divergence between major...
Investor Spotlight: TfL Pension Reaps Rewards from Liquid Alternatives
With around 15% of the portfolio in ‘liquid alternatives’ such as hedge funds and a full 45% in ‘alternative investments,’ the...
Investor Spotlight: Social Impact in Focus for Italian Bank Foundations
Italy's ecosystem of banking-originated Foundations is unique in the financial world. Created as part of a major banking system...
Outsourced CIO (OCIO) - Sector in Brief
The ‘Outsourced Chief Investment Officer’ (or ‘OCIO’) investment model is on the rise. Market volatility, increased portfolio...
Private Equity Secondaries - Sector in Brief
Secondaries are under the spotlight due to a combination of surging fundraising activity, low pricing and investors’ current...
Transaction Cost Analysis: Has Transparency Really Improved?
Transaction cost analysis (TCA) awareness is on the rise, with equity and bond investors increasingly recognising trading as a...
ESG Assessment Challenges in Investment Manager Due Diligence
When selecting and monitoring external investment managers, it is increasingly important to develop a clear understanding of...
Feeling the Heat? Taking the Temperature of Equity Portfolios
Many investors and asset managers are now focused on achieving low carbon intensity.
Manager Intelligence and Market Trends - August 2023
bfinance’s quarterly report in August 2023: read the team’s latest insights on institutional investor activity, risk appetite,...
Investor Spotlight: Sweden’s AP7 Pushes Forward on Biodiversity
Martha Brindle, Director, Public Markets at bfinance sat down with Flora Gaber, Head of ESG Analysis at AP7, part of the Swedish...
Accessing the Climate Transition through Liquid Alternatives
Increasingly troubling news—from wildfire damage to sea temperature anomalies—continues to remind us about the urgency of action...
Shariah-compliant Private Market Investing
The number of Shariah-compliant private market solutions has boomed in recent years, supporting investors that seek to improve...
How Canada Post is Reducing Risk through Innovation
At the end of 2022, the Canada Post pension plan joined the growing list of pension funds across the country whose highly funded...
Asset Owner Survey: Investors’ Costs and Fees
Investors are grappling with cost management challenges amid persistent inflation, heightened ESG requirements and regulatory...
The biodiversity challenge: How can investors make a difference?
On 20th June 2023, investors gathered in London for a roundtable on the theme of biodiversity. Recent years have seen...
Iceland’s SL Pension Pursues Internationalisation and Illiquidity
Less than a decade after the removal of capital controls that banned pension funds from investing assets overseas, Iceland is...
How Do “Liquid” Private Market Strategies Square the Circle? Part 1: Private Credit
The past two years have seen huge growth in the availability of private market strategies that offer some degree of in-built...