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Triple targets for climate transition – Skandia’s developing ESG policies
Anita Lindberg heads ESG across all of Skandia´s entities, which share resources, processes, philosophy and criteria for sustainability. She spoke to us about Skandia´s goals and the challenges of foreseeing the outcome of climate agendas of countries and companies.....
Paris alignment, and green impact in private markets
Anders Lyngaa Kristoffersen, Head of Impact Investments at The Velux Foundation, talked to us a bout the funds proprietary sustainability framework and how they are focusing priorities to create real world impact.....
Measuring the costs of index reconstitution: a global perspective
The appeal of low expense ratios and broad diversification has contributed to the growth of index funds. Yet those appealing qualities can come at a cost. Index funds primarily seek to match the performance of an index but research across US and international indices shows that index-tracking funds may incur trading costs tied to reconstitution that hurt returns......
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.....
Inflation uncertainty and the macro challenge facing investors today
Conventional wisdom may be subject to challenge and assuming a return to ‘normal’, when the past decade was anything but normal, represents a risky bet - argues Mark Dowding of RBC Bluebay Asset Management
How innovative private credit enables high impact energy efficiency
We speak to Denmark’s AkademikerPension (AkP) and Zurich-based SUSI Partners to find out about the unique ways of structuring a private credit strategy in the energy efficiency space. AkP was an anchor investor in a recent fundraising......
Enhanced portfolio implementation: cost savings and customisation
Multi-manager portfolios can be expensive while the most obvious ways to save costs – such as standardised passive investing – can also compromise on customisation in terms of managers, ESG and risk. Russell Investments’ innovative EPI offering, which has grown to EUR 90 billion of assets over 14 years, can potentially offer the best of both worlds - suggests Maarten Roeleveld
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....
2023 outlook: private markets at a crossroads
Private markets have developed into a global, highly diversified and heterogenous universe where some sub-sectors offer investors relative and absolute value. But deployment has slowed down and we have reached a crossroads: it takes (more) time to agree on value in this new context - argues Allianz GI´s Emmanuel Leblanc
Increasing opportunistic weightings in special situations and distressed, and expanding ESG
Petri Lehtola, Portfolio Manager at OP Asset Management, talks to us about allocations across a range of portfolios and his belief that default risk is key to credit investing and that it should also create good opportunities after a volatile period.....
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 default cycle.....
Laegernes Pension: Outperformance from SAA, TAA and illiquids
We sat down with Søren Nielsen and Jan Willard to talk about a challenging past year where the team still managed to outperform their benchmark thanks to tactical allocations and strategic, bottom-up selection of illiquid strategies.......
Elo’s private credit allocation: Well positioned for potential downturn
Tuomo Hietaniemi and Antti Kortela, Portfolio Managers, Private Debt Funds, gives us an in-depth look into a well diversified portfolio of direct lending, specialty finance, asset backed lending and special situations strategies as well as strategies and allocations going forward....
Nordic investor report: Alternative credit in the new economic climate
Over the past year we have interviewed allocators who specialise in alternative and private credit across the Nordics. This report highlights how Nordic investors and allocators are adapting to a new environment of raising rates, sticky inflation and possible recession and how it is effecting their strategies and allocations to alternative credit......
Harnessing the power of engagement in stewardship investing
Yolanda Courtines, Equity Portfolio Manager at Wellington, argues that strong relationships with companies, formed through regular engagement, allows asset managers to help companies navigate the increasingly demanding list of risks that management teams and boards are facing.....
Gard: Adding to private debt and EM debt, reducing high yield
Thor Abrahamsen, Senior Investment Risk Analyst, spoke to us about new and growing allocations to private credit managers and some changes on the liquid credit side. On a new reality of higher inflation and interest rates, he notes that investing just got interesting again........
Erik Penser Bank: Championing Tactical Asset Allocation
Head of Asset Management, Jonas Thulin, called a trough in equities in June 2022 and turned bullish. Now he is looking forward to less uncertain markets in 2023, with lower inflation and interest rates boosting risk assets.... ........
“Efficient Beta” Exposure to Corporate Credit
In some credit sub-asset classes, such as US high yield, many pure passive products and active managers have historically lagged the leading benchmarks used by institutions. A happier medium could be an efficient beta approach with tight tracking and a fundamental factor tilt mitigating some biases that can hamper long-term returns.....
Pohjantähti: Increasing private debt and corporate high yield
We interviewed Jani Partanen, Chief Investment Officer & CFO at Pohjantähti, to hear about the Finnish insurers strategies and allocations to alternative and private credit.....
2023 credit outlook: Playing defence but preparing for an offensive push
Pinebridge Head of Credit and Global Fixed Income, Steven Oh, argues that valuation cracks will develop in the months ahead, and he is looking to move from defensive to offensive when opportunities emerge.......
Pensam’s alternative and private credit allocations
We interviewed Jimmy Lundby, Chief Portfolio Manager for Private Credit Investments, to hear about a broad spectrum of risk and return profiles and where focus lies ahead........
Finnish Church Pension Fund increasing impact investing, specialty finance, high yield and EM
In this interview with Portfolio Manager, Eveliina Nyandoto, she explains the financial and non-financial goals of the funds´s alternative and private credit allocations.....
Ericsson Pensionsstiftelse’s eleven years of private credit investing
Portfolio Manager, Michael Levén, shares his views on the current state of the private credit markets, where he sees opportunities and how manager selection is key to minimising downside risks.....
A lot of carry but a little wary: Optimizing for volatility in high yield bonds
"An environment that continues to rattle risk markets should favor carry asset classes like credit, with a higher proportion of stable returns coming from coupon income, which can act as a buffer against volatility," argues two managers.......
Lower risk and uncorrelated returns guide AP2´s long term private debt allocations
We sat down with Patrik Jonsson, Head of Manager Selection and Private Debt, for a long and openhearted interview on how the fund is building their new private debt portfolio and how he picks external managers for the long term......
Impact measurement and management: addressing key challenges
As impact investing gains traction, investors, regulators and end clients are placing greater scrutiny on impact measurement and management. One manager is building a platform for an objective, transparent and evidence-based approach to impact assessment and measurement.....
2022 Nordic ESG Report – A green tidal wave?
Over the past year we have interviewed CIO´s and Heads of ESG from over 35 Nordic asset owners. This in-depth report will give you insights to how they are investing and how they are approaching key challenges......
Arion Bank growing direct lending beyond Iceland
Senior Portfolio Manager, Halldór Gretarsson and Head of Institutional Asset Management, Hjorleifur Waagfjord, talks to us about substantial growth in the foreign alternatives portfolio and how the aim is to double allocations still....