Fixed Income
Prime opportunities within direct lending
Within the direct lending universe M&G Investments believes the most attractive opportunities lie within the more conservative end of the mid-market. We explore why this is likely to be the case and how conditions within the asset class have changed....
Pure Play Bank Risk Sharing and Regulatory Capital
Whitecroft argue that bank risk sharing (also known as SRT) could deliver returns as good or even better than high yield or leveraged loans, but with a portfolio of mainly investment grade assets. The market is booming but deal selection is key....
Private credit: Europe vs the US
Investors’ appetite for private credit shows no signs of abating, with estimates suggesting it will double in value over the next five years. But within the asset class, choices need to be made. With Europe and the US dominating almost 90% of the market, what are the key differences between these regions and where should investors set their focus?
Small caps riding the AI wave
The rapidly spreading use of artificial intelligence is even further and more dramatically intensifying the demand for powerful semiconductor chips. But how does the increased use of artificial intelligence impact the semiconductor sector and what risks and opportunities does it provide to small-cap companies in particular?
Growing investment opportunities amid bank deleveraging trend
As banks double-down on capital relief and balance sheet optimisation, this is creating an attractive and unique entry point for investors to gain exposure to the core, yet ‘harder-to-access’, parts of bank balance sheets and earn potentially attractive risk-adjusted returns.....
Gaining exposure to surging military spending
With Finland and Sweden joining Nato, continued war in the Ukraine and tensions in the middle east, weapons are in high demand. While they are a controversial topic, investors are carefully evaluating obvious ESG concerns as they consider the defence sector and how to access it.....
Aegon Asset Management´s alternative credit platform – Yield pickups across the risk spectrum
The Dutch insurance giant continues to add innovative strategies to an already impressive range of alternative credit products. We spoke to Frank Drukker and Peter Slob to find out what they are bringing to the Nordics......
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 key area of leakage.....
Defining impact investing – evidence, measurement and positive outcomes
As impact investing is picking up increasing interest amongst Nordic investors, we look at some of the nuances and specifics that should be considered when defining strategies......
Inflation, Rates and Risk Management: Implications for Insurers
In a dramatically reshaped macro and market landscape, insurance investors are in uncharted waters. What are the keys to navigating them?
Private credit: attractive income and return potential in a ‘higher for longer’ world
While global interest rates raced higher last year, 2023 has been characterised by a cooler economic environment as central bank tightening slows and rates stabilise. Invesco´s experts from their direct lending, bank loans and distressed credit teams share their views on what’s next, and what this means for private credit investors......
Global real estate and banking sector turmoil: Have the storm clouds passed?
The turmoil in the banking sector which erupted in March sparked a degree of panic lasting into April. In this mid-year view, M&G ask: is the worst of the banking turmoil over, and how concerned should we be about any impact on the property market that may lie ahead?
The case for a market neutral Absolute Return Government Bond fund
The unfolding environment has never been better for an active manager in the sovereign bond space, argues Craig Inches of Royal London Asset Management. He sees several strategic and tactical opportunities persisting for several years and he outlines them here.........
NordicInvestor roundtable – diversifying private debt portfolios
Allocators and asset managers from Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands discussed geographic diversification, market timing and distressed opportunities, credit ratings, defaults and workouts, sizes of corporate borrowers and consumer versus corporate risk. Most allocators’ existing exposure to private debt is well below their targets and there is plenty of capital to deploy.
Reconsidering the banks sector
Royal London Asset Management´s Head of Sustainable Investments, Mike Fox, makes the case for why the firm is increasing exposure to banks amidst a changing macro environment, more attractive financial characteristics for equity investors and improved environmental performance as better disclosure on financed emissions and clearer policies on future lending are made.....
Opportunistic credit strategies: weakening credit and tightening lending conditions drive compelling value
Higher interest rates and tighter lending conditions are creating a very attractive environment for opportunistic credit managers with flexible capital to fill large liquidity gaps.....
Demystifying emerging markets debt hard currency
Emerging markets debt hard currency offers unrivalled scale, compelling diversification and attractive return potential but myths pervade the asset class which detach perception from reality around defaults, leverage to the developed market cycle and ESG risks, argues Janus Henderson´s Thomas Haugaard.....
NordicInvestor roundtable – tactical asset allocation in 2023
In this virtual roundtable we were joined by investors from Norway, Sweden and The Netherlands to discuss how asset owners, asset managers and allocators face a new landscape of absolute and relative value and risk premia in terms of interest rates, credit spreads, illiquidity premia, corporate and consumer default risk.......
Apoteket (Swedish Pharmacy) Pension Fund celebrates 2022
We sat down with CIO, Gustav Karner, to talk about how the EUR 1.2 billion fund managed to create a positive return in 2022 with the help of hedge funds and defensive macro positioning.....
US high yield corporate debt: market outlook
Speaking to allocators across the Nordics, we hear different opinions about the outlook for high yield credit spreads, default rates, recovery rates and other variables. Hamlin Lowell interviewed Insight portfolio manager, Paul Benson, to gather some historical and analytical perspectives....
A downturn is ahead, but pinpointing when and where is the real question
Azhar Hussain, Head of Global Credit at Royal London Asset Management, gives his views on where the high yield markets are heading in 2023 and how the story will be all about the recession and the shape of the de