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Wanted: A better definition of thematic investing
Multi-Asset Portfolio Manager Brian Garvey and colleague Manny Hunjan believe the prevailing definition of thematic investing is overly narrow and offer a potential solution.
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Article
2023-09-20
The road less traveled: An insurer’s path to investing in alternatives
Insurance Multi-Asset Strategist Tim Antonelli lays out a sturdy yet flexible framework to help global insurers navigate the alternative investments space.
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Article
2023-09-30
Sustainable fixed income: Key terms allocators should know
ESG integration versus sustainable investing: What’s the difference? We explain a few key distinctions that are important for allocators to understand.
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Quick Take
2023-06-30
2022 Asia Pacific Investment Forum: The energy complex
What do the rapidly accelerating tensions in the energy and commodity complex mean for investors? Discover three expert insights from our 2022 Asia Investment Forum.
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Video
2023-09-30
The shifting equity/bond correlation: Implications for portfolio construction
Multi-Asset Strategist Nick Samouilhan looks at what's driving the change in the all-important equity/bond relationship and what can be done about it.
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Quick Take
2022-12-31
Investment takeaways from the latest inflation data
With 2022's structural inflation story still very much intact, now may be a particularly opportune time for investors to add real-asset and inflation-sensitive exposures to their portfolios.
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Quick Take
2022-11-30
Has China’s investment landscape permanently shifted?
Multi-Asset Strategist Adam Berger and Macro Strategist Santiago Millán consider key policy-related questions hanging over the Chinese market and share some near- and long-term investment views.
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Article
2023-08-31
Positioning for a “pricey” recession scenario
Client Portfolio Manager Jitu Naidu and Fixed Income Strategist Amar Reganti offer portfolio positioning ideas for the potential recession scenario that may lie ahead.
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Quick Take
2022-11-30
High inflation and slow growth in Europe: How should investors respond?
Multi-Asset Strategist Supriya Menon explores the asset allocation implications of high inflation and slow growth in Europe.
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Article
2023-08-31
Cash-balance liabilities: A new investment framework
A cash-balance plan is very different from a traditional pension, and the differences can have a major impact on interest-rate sensitivity. With this in mind, we propose a focus on capital preservation, consistent income, and liquidity.
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Article
2023-08-31
What can history teach us about today's markets? A framework for drawing comparisons
Members of our Investment Strategy Group explain how they identify similarities to past market environments and what their approach is signaling about today's conditions.
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Quick Take
2022-11-30
Is the commodities rally built to last?
Commodities were the only major asset class that performed well in the first half of 2022. Multi-Asset Strategist Adam Berger and Commodities Portfolio Manager David Chang consider whether there’s more upside from here.
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Article
2023-08-31
Recalibrating alternative allocations for a new market reality
As allocators cope with economic uncertainty and market volatility, Multi-Asset Strategists Cara Lafond and Adam Berger explain how alternative investments could potentially play a role in improving portfolio resilience and returns.
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Article
2023-08-31
Will the Fed send the US economy into a recession?
Multi-Asset Strategist Adam Berger and US Macro Strategist Juhi Dhawan consider the broad impact of Fed rate hikes and how asset allocators should respond.
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Article
2023-07-31
Insurers: Strengthen your core in the second half
Insurance Multi-Asset Strategist Tim Antonelli shares his latest multi-asset insights for global insurers, including his view that core fixed income holdings — US interest rates and investment-grade corporate bonds — should stack up well against most risk assets in the second half of 2022.
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Article
2022-12-31
Can hedge funds behave if fixed income doesn’t? A manager-selection view
Our Fundamental Factor Team proposes an alternative approach for analyzing hedge funds and constructing multi-manager hedge fund portfolios intended to fill the roles of fixed income.
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Article
2023-07-31
Mid-2022 Alternative Investments Outlook
As allocators cope with economic uncertainty and market volatility, Multi-Asset Strategist Cara Lafond explains how alternative investments could potentially play a role in improving portfolio resilience and returns.
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Article
2023-08-31
Mid-2022 Asset Allocation & Investment Strategy Outlook
We explore the market implications of central bank policies, rising prices, and slowing growth and offer incremental steps to improving a portfolio’s return potential.
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Article
2023-07-31
Using hedge funds to perform the role of fixed income: An alternative approach
Member of our Fundamental Factor Team offer a role-based framework that may help better align manager research, portfolio construction, and potential investment outcomes.
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Quick Take
2022-10-31
Stepping-stone investment ideas: A bridge over troubled waters?
Multi-Asset Strategist Adam Berger offers incremental investment ideas that may help asset owners improve a portfolio's return potential.
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Quick Take
2022-10-31
Mid-2022 Asset Class Outlook
We offer perspectives on growth and value equities and explore ideas for shoring up your fixed income flank amid the evolving economic and market environment.
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Article
2023-07-31
Sustainable fixed income investing entering the mainstream
This short piece explores the continued rise of sustainable fixed income investing and links to a more in-depth white paper on the topic.
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Quick Take
2022-12-31
Loans from Federal Home Loan Banks: An opportunity for US insurers to enhance investment yield and total return
Learn why our Financial Reserves Management Group believes FHLB loans provide compelling potential for insurers to add alpha or increase yield by borrowing at low rates and benefitting from possible favorable treatment by ratings agencies.
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Article
2023-07-01
Closing the return gap: A new set of “stepping stone” ideas
Multi-Asset Strategist Adam Berger offers incremental, flexible investment ideas that can be combined to help asset owners pursue their goals amid declining capital market return expectations.
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Whitepaper
2023-06-30
Sticky inflation, weaker growth: A volatile mix
As central bank policy, rising prices, and slowing growth roil the markets, Nanette Abuhoff Jacobson and Supriya Menon explore the implications for equities, bonds, and commodities.
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Article
2022-10-31
Climate from the allocator's perspective
How do different asset allocators within Wellington incorporate climate change into their investment process as markets, data and regulation continue to evolve?
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Event replay
2023-05-31
Making the money last: Research insights on the decumulation challenge
Our Investment Strategy team considers the unique challenges of decumulation strategies, including sequencing and longevity risk, and offers thoughts on best practices in portfolio construction, process design, and implementation.
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Quick Take
2023-04-30
Empirical duration: reason for optimism on risk assets?
While rising rates often produce negative bond returns, combining the concept of empirical duration with a positive outlook on the credit cycle may bode well for some fixed income sectors' return prospects going forward. Investment Analyst Will Prenits and Investment Director Tobias Ripka explain.
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Quick Take
2022-07-31
Demystifying decumulation: A practical guide
Investors seeking a sound decumulation strategy must consider a host of variables, including risks that weren’t on the radar when they were accumulating assets. Members of our Investment Strategy team consider the interaction between portfolio withdrawals and specific characteristics of the portfolio’s realized return. They also offer thoughts on successful decumulation strategies, focusing on portfolio construction, process design, and implementation.
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Article
2023-04-30
Nobody’s perfect: The case for a long-term strategy in active management
While many asset owners recognize the value of a long-term mindset, it can be challenging to resist short-term instincts in volatile environments like the one we’ve seen in recent months. But asset owners who have a strategy to help them stay focused on the long term may avoid a number of potentially costly behaviors, including abandoning a thoughtfully selected allocation to a manager after a relatively short period of underperformance.
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Quick Take
2022-07-31
Helping European investors navigate inflation fears
The recent shift to a higher inflation regime, with resulting expectations of tighter monetary policy and rising interest rates, presents a material challenge for European fixed income investors. Against this backdrop, Investment Analyst Will Prentis and Investment Director Tobias Ripka believe investment flexibility is key.
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Quick Take
2022-07-31
When will US federal deficits matter?
Now that the Federal Reserve has moved into tightening mode, it’s worth asking when the US deficits and overall debt could become a source of worry. As long as interest rates stay reasonably low without driving persistently high inflation, I believe deficits and the debt won’t matter too much to the economy or markets. The debt won’t be painful to finance and can continue to grow — within reason. In fact, if economic growth is higher than the interest rate on government borrowing, it’s possible for debt to GDP to shrink even amid sizeable deficits.
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Quick Take
2022-07-31
Nearing the finish line: Ideas on end-state investing for corporate DB plans
As corporate plans approach their fully funded “end state,” new goals will need to be set. Members of our LDI team share their research on this transition and the required realignment of asset allocation strategies, including changes in return-seeking and liability-hedging portfolios and key liquidity considerations.
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Article
2023-04-30
Beware of benchmark concentration
We discuss the outperformance of megacap stocks and offer perspective on how active managers may approach the challenge of being underweight those stocks.
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Quick Take
2022-06-30
A US insurer’s roadmap for navigating the new RBC regs
With the NAIC’s latest revisions to risk-based capital (RBC) charges now on the books, what should US insurers be focused on moving forward? And how have the relative value propositions across fixed income assets and other investments changed as a result? Multi-Asset Insurance Strategist Tim Antonelli and Investment Specialist Geoff Austein-Miller share their views and insights.
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Whitepaper
2023-03-31
For markets, it’s complicated
As markets grapple with the war in Ukraine, inflation worries, and a host of other issues, Nanette Abuhoff Jacobson and Daniel Cook offer their thoughts on the investment implications for equities, commodities, and fixed income.
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Article
2022-10-31
Regime change likely to challenge modern market structures
Recently, I wrote about the rotation from growth to value and why some of my colleagues and I expect volatility, more than a smooth transition of leadership, to define markets. The thesis is rooted in the fact that seismic macro questions loom over markets and are likely to trigger violent fluctuations in investor conviction. Earlier this month, Macro Strategist John Butler dissected one of these questions: Will the negative correlation between stocks and bonds turn positive?
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Quick Take
2022-05-31
Macro survey: Nervous about China
Respondents to our latest internal survey think the markets may be complacent about risks in China and emerging markets more broadly.
Every quarter for the past six years, the Wisdom of Wellington team has surveyed around 100 of our Wellington colleagues across different investment disciplines and locations to get their views on what we see as the key macro questions of the day. The results can pinpoint where the firm’s views differ from the consensus and can also reveal significant shifts in our collective thinking.
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Quick Take
2023-02-28
Better balance in bonds: How a factor framework and a barbell approach could help
For investors seeking diversification in their credit portfolios, members of our Fundamental Factor team propose a portfolio construction and manager selection process designed to source complementary manager alpha-generation styles and help “smooth out” the path of fixed income alpha.
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Article
2023-02-28
Hedging climate risk: The best defense is a good offense
Climate risks have the potential to create a long-term return drag on investment portfolios. We suggest a straightforward approach to hedging the deleterious effects of climate change.
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Article
2023-02-28
Start at the end: How to size and structure private allocations for corporate plans
How should corporate defined benefit plan sponsors think about the private allocation decision? Members of our LDI and Alternatives teams propose a “start where you want to end up” approach that incorporates liquidity and return requirements.
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2023-02-28
What if…? Contemplating five big questions for 2022
Could there be policy, inflation, or market surprises in 2022? Multi-Asset Strategist Adam Berger weighs the possibilities and the portfolio implications.
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Article
2023-02-28
Integrating climate change into capital market assumptions: our approach and findings
"Members of our Investment Strategy team explain how they are incorporating climate-related inputs, including physical and transition risks, into their capital market assumptions and outline the impact of these changes at the asset-class level."
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2023-01-31
2022 Alternative Investment Outlook
Our 2022 Alternative Investment Outlook looks at 5 areas of focus for the coming year and explores private equity markets and ESG opportunities.
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Article
2022-12-31
2022 Fixed Income Outlook
Our fixed income outlook for 2022, examines our views on inflation and interest rates and the role central banks will play in the coming year.
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Article
2022-11-15
2022 Equity Outlook
Our 2022 Equity Outlook explores opportunities in equity income and emerging markets, along with trends in health care and technology for the coming year
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2023-01-27
LDI in 2022: Nine questions corporate plan sponsors are asking
Our LDI Team offers insights for the coming year, addressing some of the most commonly asked questions on funded ratios, securitized assets, intermediate credit, alternatives, and other return-seeking and liability-hedging topics.
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2022-12-31
When public and private equity converge: An allocator’s guide
Multi-Asset Strategist Cara Lafond believes the time has come to recalibrate private equity portfolios to keep up with the evolution of the equity ecosystem. She offers a case for a more holistic view of public and private allocations, a fresh look at how allocators access growth, and the use of private and crossover strategies in innovative sectors.
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Article
2022-12-30
2022 Climate Change Investing Outlook
As the effects of climate change become more difficult to ignore, we suggest focusing on adaptation, mitigation, & engagement for 2022 climate investing plans.
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Article
2022-12-31
Navigating narrow bond markets: how diversified is your fixed income alpha?
Understanding an active manager’s path and style of alpha generation should be a critical part of anyone’s fixed income manager evaluation process, says Brendan Fludder of our Fundamental Factor Team.
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Quick Take
2022-07-28
Setting ROAs for 2022: A guide for US corporate and public plans
How are pension plans adjusting their ROA assumptions? How do those assumptions line up with our long-term capital market assumptions? Find out in this annual update.
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Article
2022-10-31
2022 Multi-Asset Outlook
In our 2022 Asset Allocation Outlook, we expect markets to focus on central bank efforts to tame inflation look at 5 post-pandemic essentials for 2022.
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Article
2022-12-31
A credit strategy designed for all seasons
We make the case for fixed income allocators to have an “all-weather†credit portfolio composed of carefully chosen building blocks.
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2022-11-15
Changing “weather” patterns in alternatives and climate
Multi-Asset Strategist Adam Berger offers a forecast on the future of alternative and climate-related investing, with insights on manager selection, public/private allocations, climate-aware capital market assumptions, and a range of other topics.
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Article
2022-11-30
Strong but slowing growth: A tale of two narratives
Markets appear to be caught between two hard-to-reconcile narratives: The pace of economic growth looks poised to slow, but the level of growth is likely to stay relatively strong. Multi-Asset Insurance Strategist Tim Antonelli and Investment Strategy Analyst Daniel Cook offer insights for global insurers at this point in the cycle.
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2022-01-31
The evolution of derisking: Assessing new and time-tested liability-hedging ideas
As defined benefit plans contemplate the best path to their eventual “end state,” members of our LDI team update their liability-hedging research with a blend of traditional benchmark ideas and new opportunities to capitalize on changing market conditions and a broader investment universe.
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Article
2022-09-30
Climate conundrum: Will carbon constraints affect the pursuit of other portfolio objectives?
Members of our Fundamental Factor Team share their research on the potential for trade-offs when carbon goals are integrated into outcome-oriented, factor-based portfolios.
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Article
2022-10-31
Should China equity be a stand-alone allocation?
As China’s role on the world stage looms larger, should investors separate the country from the rest of their emerging markets (EM) equity allocation? Three of our multi-asset strategists provide their research-based take, along with some practical considerations.
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Quick Take
2022-05-31
Investing for the long term (in a short-term world)
With short-term behavior evident across the financial landscape, Multi-Asset Strategist Adam Berger explores the intuitive and quantifiable advantages of being more long term, and he offers seven habits that can help asset owners cultivate a long-term mindset.
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Article
2022-09-30
Chinese government bonds: How do they measure up in a multi-asset framework?
As China’s bond market continues to grow in size and liquidity, we consider the potential role the country’s government bonds can play in diversifying a broader sovereign portfolio, improving yields, and offsetting equity risk.
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Article
2022-08-31
Has climate transition risk been priced into equities?
The recent runup of some “green” equities has investors questioning whether climate transition risks have been priced in. But the lack of Scope 3 emissions data and wide variation in the quality of companies’ climate transition plans leave gaping inefficiencies that active investors can still exploit.
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Article
2022-05-31
Update on key sustainability initiatives
We highlight progress on key sustainability initiatives: interim targets for our net-zero commitment, inclusion of location data in climate disclosures, and expanding our compliance with SFDR.
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2021-12-31
Split decision: Should investors separate China from EM equities?
Many investors are contemplating whether to separate China from the rest of their emerging market equity allocation. Members of our Investment Strategy Group argue that the key decision point is not China’s dominance of the emerging market index, but the extent to which a standalone China allocation can be viewed as similar to an EM ex-China allocation. In this paper, they evaluate the similarity of the two allocations using a variety of metrics, from correlations to factors to sector composition.
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Article
2022-07-31
Why global insurers should take a closer look at REITs
Insurance Strategist Max Davies, Investment Director Will Lee, and Investment Specialist Ethan Sales look at the potential benefits of REITs for global insurers, plus why now may be an opportune time to consider this often unsung asset class.
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Article
2022-07-31
Rethinking growth and where long/short directional strategies fit in
With allocators looking for opportunities to recalibrate their growth exposures, Multi-Asset Strategist Cara Lafond shares her “best fit” criteria for long/short directional strategies and explains why the financial sector appears to check all the boxes.
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Article
2022-07-31
Building climate resilience with strategic asset allocation framework
Driving volatility and dispersion, climate change could have lasting effects on the risk and return profile of a strategic asset allocation plan. We suggest allocators factor climate change into their structural planning today, and we propose a climate-aware allocation framework to help them do so.
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Article
2022-07-31
A theme is not an index
We explore the case for active thematic investing and highlight the importance of avoiding theme-washing.
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Article
2022-06-30
ESG playbook for insurers: Tune out the noise
In this video interview, Insurance Multi-Asset Strategist Tim Antonelli provides a playbook for how insurers should approach ESG. Tim offers an actionable to-do list, addresses common misconceptions, and shares forward-thinking ideas to anticipate and manage risk. Tim is interviewed by Account Manager Sarah Marschok who offers color on the investment themes she is observing in the market.
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Video
2022-06-01
A source-based approach to managing inflation risk
Multi-Asset Strategists Nick Samouilhan and Adam Berger present a source-based investment “playbook” that asset allocators can follow as they seek to neutralize the looming threat of higher inflation.
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2022-06-30
Insurance Multi-Asset Outlook — Rising rates: Threat or opportunity?
Multi-Asset Insurance Strategist Tim Antonelli and Investment Strategy Analyst Daniel Cook argue that now may be an opportune time for insurers to adopt a more pro-risk stance, despite the potential headwind of rising rates.
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2022-03-31
LDI Alert — Adding intermediate credit to the derisking tool kit: What plan sponsors need to know
With a growing number of derisking plans seeking exposure to intermediate credit, members of our LDI team highlight some key investment considerations.
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Article
2022-03-31
Never assume and other tips for 2021
Multi-Asset Strategist Adam Berger stress tests the consensus views on four key issues: rising interest rates, high equity valuations, US market leadership, and the impact of slower globalization on China’s growth.
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2022-02-01
A new inflationary regime: Why the next decade could look different from the last
We explore why the risk of structurally higher inflation may be the highest it has been in decades and profile the key investment implications this presents.
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Article
2022-01-31
Insurers: A potent plan of attack for 2021
In this video interview, Tim Antonelli offers key advice for insurers as they plan for 2021, including a robust to-do list. Tim’s role as a multi-asset insurance strategist uniquely qualifies him to offer outside-the-box ideas that can help insurers anticipate and manage risk. Tim is interviewed by Sarah Marshock, a leader on Wellington’s Financial Reserves Management Team, who offers color on the investment themes she is observing in the market.
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Video
2022-01-31
Fighting downgrade drag to reduce pension liability lag
Even robustly constructed liability benchmarks can struggle to keep pace with the liabilities they are meant to represent, and credit-rating downgrades of issuers in the benchmark are a primary culprit. In this paper, members of our LDI Team define the problem and offer ideas to help plan sponsors and LDI managers work together to fight back.
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Article
2021-11-30
An insurer’s guide to fixed income: Setting the record straight on rates and credit
Investment Directors Abigail Babson, Amar Reganti, and Anand Dharan lay out their proposed framework for building a more resilient fixed income allocation that is equal to the challenges of today’s environment.
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2021-11-01
Studying outsiders: Blending the advantages of public and private equity
Learn why we believe a longer-term public market approach focused on strong capital allocation could combine the benefits of public and private equity.
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Article
2022-05-31
Fear of rebalancing? Put a disciplined policy in place
Many investors wrestle with portfolio-rebalancing decisions, particularly in extreme market environments. In this paper, members of our Investment Strategy Team argue for a well-structured rebalancing policy and share research on calendar-based and range-based strategies.
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Whitepaper
2022-05-31
Debunking four common myths about CLOs
Fixed Income Portfolio Manager Alyssa Irving sets the record straight regarding CLO myths, including their potential risks and investment benefits.
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2021-01-31
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