Many corporate defined benefit plans experienced significant funded status gains in recent years. Recent capital markets volatility, however, has set many plans a few steps back, re-focusing plan sponsors on both protecting long-term funded status gains and closing the asset-liability deficit. Given increased volatility in global equity markets, relatively high valuations in many market segments, and the late stages of the economic and credit cycles, optimizing the plan’s growth engine is more critical, and challenging, than ever.
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As part of our ongoing commitment to alternative credit, Cambridge Associates (CA) began compiling a database of credit stress and losses in one of the largest strategies within private credit, senior debt (i.e., direct lending). Our initial outreach in the United States and Europe yielded data from 11 senior debt funds tracking material document modifications (which we use as a proxy for credit stress, greater detail below) and loss rates in bilateral and clubbed middle-market lending.
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We recently argued that investors should take a systematic and comprehensive approach to investing in China, overweighting Chinese assets relative to their index weights. This edition of VantagePoint addresses five key questions regarding implementation decisions.
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Co-investments are one of only a handful of control levers within an LP’s toolbox, and we encourage all private market investors, regardless of size, to consciously consider implementing a co-investment program.
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Though developments and headlines associated with the UK’s Article 50 negotiations with the EU to exit the trading bloc have been fitful, their impact thus far on the underlying fundamentals of the UK economy and sterling-denominated assets, particularly UK equities, has been moderate. Because Brexit is a political process with two-way tail risks, it warrants close monitoring but is not a good foundation for a tactical investment position By the same token, UK investors should avoid factoring in expectations of specific potential Brexit outcomes into strategic decisions regarding currency exposures.
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While we have advised a gradual approach to investing in China, today we believe that investors should take a systematic and comprehensive approach, overweighting Chinese assets relative to their index weights. Looking past the uncertainty and negativity, investors will find a large investment opportunity set, a robust universe of public and private managers, and appealing public equity valuations.
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The dramatic declines that swept across the crypto space raised questions about the future of these assets and the blockchain technology that underpins them. Yet, in looking across the investment landscape, we see an industry that is developing, not faltering. In this paper, we review recent developments in the industry, highlight our views of the various investment strategies, and discuss a few considerations for investors exploring the space.
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Families with multigenerational wealth may be particularly well positioned to consider allocating 40% or more of their assets to private investments. Assuming these families have the requisite long-term time horizon, patience, and ability to act quickly, they stand to benefit not only from the potential for higher returns but also from the tax-advantaged nature of private investments. Life could get better after 40%!
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In response to the proliferation of new private credit strategies and managers, Cambridge Associates has developed a set of benchmarks that will help limited partners assess the performance of new and existing fund manager (general partners).
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