Is Cash Still Trash?
Not in the United States. As short rates have increased and the yield curve has flattened, US T-bills offer more appeal than they have in some time.
Credit/Fixed Income
Portfolio Benchmarking: Best Practices for Private Investments
When assessing performance at the aggregate private portfolio and sub-component level, investors should take the long view. In this publication, we review how long funds take to settle into their ultimate quartile ranking and highlight our framework for benchmarking a portfolio of private investments.
US Manager Universe Statistics: First Quarter 2018
This chart book presents representative long-only and hedge fund manager performance for first quarter 2018. The median Global ex US Bonds manager posted the highest median return for first quarter 2018, returning 3.5%. Global ex US Small-Cap Equity managers posted the best returns for the one-year period ending March 31, 2018, with a median return of 26.4%. The median US REITs manager posted the lowest median return for both first quarter 2018 (-6.5%) and for the one-year period ending March 31, 2018 (-1.1%).
Trade Finance: An Expanding Opportunity for Institutional Investors
Providing high liquidity, good return premiums over cash, and a predictable risk profile, trade finance can play a valuable role in portfolio strategy.
Decades of Data: 1900–2017
In over 40 different analyses and 100 charts, our annual report on the history of global markets provides context for the range of returns investors can expect from equities, bonds, and cash; reveals the importance of various components of equity returns; examines the evidence for equity mean reversion; and reviews the relationship between initial valuations…
Distressed Debt: A New Way to Categorize Managers
As the economic cycle progresses, the next recession draws inexorably closer, bringing with it the next downturn in the credit cycle. Recognizing this, institutional investors are increasingly considering allocations to distressed debt managers. While lumping all distressed managers into one group is tempting, different managers have meaningfully different approaches and investors’ traditional way of thinking about distressed debt managers makes timing paramount. In this paper, we offer a new way to think about distressed investing that combines three complementary sub-strategies and encourages investors to allocate across the credit cycle.
Australia Outlook 2018: Reaching a Tipping Point
Though the risk from rising rates is potentially higher in Australia than elsewhere given household debt levels and the state of the housing market, we judge the risks and outlook as balanced and advise investors to remain neutral on equities and risk.
New Zealand Outlook 2018: The Times They Are A-Changin’
The risks from rising rates are potentially higher in New Zealand than elsewhere given the overvaluation of equities and the housing market. We advise investors to underweight NZ equities, fixed income in general, and the NZ dollar.
US Manager Universe Statistics: Fourth Quarter 2017
This chart book presents representative long-only and hedge fund manager performance for fourth quarter 2017. The median US Growth Equity ex Small-Cap manager posted the highest median return for fourth quarter 2017, returning 6.8%. Emerging & Frontier Markets Equity managers posted the best returns for the one-year period ending December 31, 2017, with a median return of 36.8%. The median US Intermediate-Term Bonds manager posted the lowest median return for fourth quarter 2017 (0.0%), while the median Cash Management return was lowest for the one-year period ending December 31, 2017 (1.1%).
Review of Market Performance: Calendar Year 2017
Equity markets dazzled investors in 2017, as an uptick in global economic activity helped lift expectations for corporate earnings growth across developed and emerging markets. The performance of equities and other asset classes are reviewed in this chart book.