A Changed Investment Landscape Is Providing Greater Opportunity for US Corporate Pensions

Over the past decade, executives overseeing corporate defined benefit (DB) pension plans have experienced significant regulatory reform and a full reversal of investment conditions. While rising liabilities once offset asset gains, the opposite is now true. Yet many organizations haven’t recalibrated their approach to plan management in response, leaving them exposed to unnecessary costs and […]

January 2024

SEC Approves Spot Bitcoin ETFs

On January 10, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the trading of spot bitcoin ETFs, roughly ten years after the first application. The approval follows last year’s decision by a US Appeals Court that limited the SEC’s discretion in denying applications. While we doubt this decision will meaningfully impact sophisticated investors in the […]

January 2024

2024 Outlook: Hedge Funds

We expect equity long/short strategies will outperform their long-term average, due partly to the considerable rise in short rebates. This expectation is also linked to our view that global equity volatility will increase due to our economic expectation and ongoing geopolitical crises. Equity Long/Short Performance Should Be Above Average in 2024 Joe Marenda, Head of […]

December 2023

Asia Insights: Navigating Higher Rates and Volatility

Introduction Aaron Costello, Regional Head for Asia, and Vivian Gan, Associate Investment Director, Capital Markets Research The path of global central bank tightening remains a top-of-mind question for investors after the recent stress in the US and European banking sectors. While financial contagion seems contained for now and has yet to spread to Asia, the […]

April 2023

2023 Outlook: Hedge Funds

We expect macro hedge funds to perform well, given our expectations that market volatilities will remain elevated and our view that inflation risks are skewed to exceeding expectations. We expect long/short managers will benefit from positive short rebates. Continued Inflation Uncertainties Underpin Our Optimism in Macro Hedge Funds in 2023 Meisan Lim, Managing Director, Hedge […]

December 2022

Solvency Beyond Relief: Unlocking the Full Potential of SFA Program Assets

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) included substantial relief funds for the most troubled US multiemployer pension plans through its Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program. The SFA program was created to help seriously underfunded multiemployer pension plans maintain solvency through 2051. Multiemployer pension plans receiving SFA funds now have a unique opportunity to […]

November 2022

Macro Hedge Funds Should Benefit from Improved Opportunities

Rising inflation and moderating growth are generally associated with a higher risk premium as investors start to price in a potential shift in market regime. In the past, global macro managers have generally benefited from better alpha opportunities that arise from volatility. With this backdrop, we expect macro hedge fund performance to be better than average next year.

December 2021

Are Hedge Funds at Risk from Retail-Driven Disorder in Equity Markets?

No, we do not believe that is generally the case. While the recent wild ride of a few companies’ share prices was novel in that it was coordinated by retail investors on the social media platform Reddit, the short coverings that contributed to the price spikes were all too familiar to long-time investors.

February 2021