Insights

VantagePoint: Investing in a Low-Carbon Future

The transition to a low-carbon economy consistent with the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming requires ambitious technological advancements and continued scaling of existing technologies. Such a massive economic transition by 2050, with meaningful progress by 2030, would be unprecedented but is not impossible, with adequate focus and funding. Indeed, significant progress has been […]

July 2023

Is Now a Good Time to Allocate to Private Credit Strategies?

Yes. Despite elevated macro uncertainty, it is an opportune time to allocate to private credit. Rising interest rates, reduced competition from traditional lenders, and improving documentation mean these should be attractive vintages for direct lending. In a similar vein, credit opportunities funds are finding rich pickings thanks to growing risk aversion, rising distress, and the […]

July 2023

Private Direct Lending or Public BDCs? Guidance for Pension Plan Sponsors

Private credit has become a popular asset class among pension plan sponsors seeking yield enhancement over their public fixed income allocations. The non-bank finance market has flourished since the Global Financial Crisis due to a more restrictive bank regulatory environment, resulting in reduced bank lending activity, and a wide range of private credit opportunities are […]

July 2023

Liquidity Hazard Planning for Families of Wealth

Families of significant wealth can experience sustained periods of time where liquidity is not a foremost priority. Demands for liquid capital can rapidly emerge, however, like the sudden onset of the COVID-19 crisis in March 2020, and cause trouble for the unprepared. In the worst-case scenario, investors may need to sell growth-focused assets during a […]

July 2023

A New Approach: How ERISA-Covered US Pension Plans Can Save on PBGC Premiums

Saving on Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premiums has long been at the forefront of many pension risk management decisions. When interest rates were near historic lows during 2019 and 2020, many single-employer plan sponsors changed their methodology for calculating these premiums to reduce their tax obligation to the federal government. Although it appeared like […]

July 2023

Simplifying Family Investment Portfolios

For families of significant wealth, complexity is a natural byproduct of a well-managed portfolio. A dynamic portfolio can help address a number of investment challenges that families of wealth face, including varying multigenerational preferences, unique tax considerations, domicile requirements, and specific beneficiary needs. Yet there is also such a thing as overcomplexity, which can waste […]

June 2023

Does the Recent Rally in AI-Linked Growth Stocks Mean Value Is Doomed?

No. While the exciting developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have been a bright spot for equity markets this year, we do not think value will continue to lag growth. In fact, we expect it will outperform over the next several years. Growth indexes have already retraced nearly all of last year’s underperformance relative to value. […]

June 2023

Don’t Count Out Government Bonds Just Yet

Historically, we have recommended investors hold high-quality government bonds as a counterbalance in equity-heavy portfolios. However, in recent years, some investors have reduced their exposure to government bonds, given their low yields, in favor of cash. This was prescient in 2022. Global equities returned -16% in local currency terms, but government bonds also suffered steep […]

June 2023