Liability Hedging in Response to Pandemic Crisis

April 8, 2020 - The economic impact from the COVID-19 virus has been swift, creating a dichotomy between “risk-free” Treasury interest rates and corporate spreads. In this paper, we outline how hedging programs may need to re-align their strategies given the current circumstances while continuing to lean on the basics.

April 2020

Balancing the Financial Equation: Your Closest Supporters Have Never Been More Important

For non-profit institutions, the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 virus, and the speed by which these disruptions have materialized, create a perfect financial storm.

April 2020

Navigating Healthcare System Investments Through the Coronavirus Crisis

April 8, 2020—The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted significant duress upon the operational and financial situations of nonprofit healthcare systems. An immediate response was necessary to escalate staffing, spending, and resources to provide emergency treatment to those affected by this highly contagious outbreak.

April 2020

The Complex Relationship Between Inflation and Asset Prices

March 23, 2020— As we write in March 2020, COVID-19 is spreading across much of the world, undercutting economic activity. While how this situation will unfold is not entirely clear, we have long believed that the best way to guard against future uncertainty is to have a well-constructed portfolio. One key component in that is understanding the relationship between asset prices and inflation.

March 2020

VantagePoint: The Bear Awakens

March 18, 2020—The bear has finally come out of his long hibernation, causing us to dust off our playbook for weathering bear markets.

March 2020

Europe Escalates Its Response to the Coronavirus Outbreak

March 13, 2020— This week, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank both announced stimulus measures aimed at responding to the growing impact of COVID-19.

March 2020

Structuring Healthcare System Investments for Success

Healthcare systems can benefit greatly by maximizing equity orientation and illiquidity while prudently managing risk. But a typical healthcare system may have investment assets in multiple accounts, due to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), capital projects, and fundraising, as well as operational and pension benefit growth. Investments can be curated—identified, categorized, and clustered—for optimal efficiency and cost savings. Similarly, defined benefit pension plans can be restructured to better manage pension risk and administration. This paper discusses strategies to simplify and streamline investment structures to make complexity more manageable for investment and financial executives.

March 2020

The Fed Eases as Virus Concerns Grow

March 3, 2020—The US Federal Reserve cut its policy rate by 50 basis points today, highlighting the serious challenges facing the global economy. Still, we don’t believe investors should cut risk. Very few have an informational edge regarding COVID-19’s market impact, and investors could be left underexposed when and if markets rebound.

March 2020