Fixed income funds enjoyed a good year in 2020, with strong investment flows from investors seeking safety in central bank-supported bonds, as the pandemic ripped apart stock markets.
A group of institutional investors worth USD13 trillion, including Aviva Investors, AXA Investment Managers, and Fidelity International, has pledged to support fair and equal global access to vaccines and healthcare in the fight against coronavirus.
Global dividends fell by 12 per cent in 2020 to USD1.3 trillion in the full year of 2020, after cuts and cancellations reached USD220 billion between April and December.
Asset managers are preparing for a rebound in UK equities, as an easing of coronavirus restrictions is expected to follow a swift roll-out of vaccinations.
A GBP3.2 trillion investor coalition against modern slavery, including Aberdeen Standard Investments, Church of England Pensions Board, Legal & General and Rathbones, has put pressure on 22 laggard companies on the FTSE 350 to comply with the UK’s modern slavery laws.
Asset managers’ understanding of companies’ ESG practices could be improved by using new technologies such as artificial intelligence, tokenisation, and ledger technology, according to a report from consultancy Capco.
By Gary Clifford-Newman, Vice President, Prime Services Sales at London-headquartered brokerage Sova Capital. Clifford-Newman joined Sova Capital in 2018 and focuses on delivering prime services for hedge funds and managers accounts covering equities, fixed income, futures and options execution, prime-financing and custody solutions.
As more institutional investors dip their toes into the cryptocurrency investing space, the range of assets they are investing in is expanding to include ether, the native asset of the Ethereum blockchain. Interest in Ethereum funds is driving an ongoing price rally, which reached all-time highs above USD1,800 this week.
As Chinese New Year celebrations draw near, investor expectations for China’s equity and debt markets are set high for the Year of the Ox.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are now key criteria for selecting new asset managers, according to a survey of pension schemes, insurance firms, and family offices worth a combined USD7 trillion.
In a year that was characterised by wild market swings and global economic turmoil, alternative asset manager Gresham House forged ahead with ambitious growth plans. Its CEO, Tony Dalwood, says the next step will be to take the group’s forestry platform international.
