Insights

The American Rescue Plan Act Brings Relief and Highlights Challenges for US Pension Plan Sponsors

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law on March 11, 2021, and included a variety of plan sponsor–friendly changes to single-employer and multiemployer pension plans, but no real help for public sector plans. ARPA may change the future landscape of US pension plans, which may prompt plan sponsors to modify their investment strategies to achieve plan objectives. Its impact will vary greatly, both by plan type and individual plan circumstances.

May 2021

US Inflation Spikes, as Expected

Today, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly inflation report for April, which highlighted that prices paid by urban consumers for a basket of goods and services increased by 4.2% relative to the same month last year.

May 2021

Investing in 21st Century Infrastructure: Benefiting from the Digital Revolution

The importance of digitisation has grown during the pandemic, as people have relied more on digital platforms, video streaming, and cloud storage. Investment across the digital infrastructure value chain continues to rise in response, and should increasingly be a priority for real asset investors.

May 2021

Rising Rates and the Implications for Fixed Income

In this paper, we analyze the drivers behind the recent rise in yields and compare the current bond sell-off to major bond sell-offs of the past to assess whether the rise in yields can continue and the implications for fixed income.

May 2021

Will the Global Equity Rotation from Growth Stocks to Cyclicals Persist?

Yes, we expect it will. We anticipate global inflation expectations will remain stable or increase modestly amid rising economic growth, which would allow the equity market rotation into cyclicals to continue.

May 2021

US Real Estate Outlook: Patience Required

This paper discusses recent trends in US commercial real estate fundamentals and looks ahead to what might be in store for the remainder of 2021. Overall, we are reluctant to sound overly bullish about the broad asset class, as the outlook for some sectors is unclear. Still, for investors looking to immediately deploy capital, we highlight two categories of opportunities.

April 2021

VantagePoint: Reflation, Inflation, or More of the Same?

In this edition of VantagePoint, we review the drivers of inflation globally and conclude that widespread inflation concerns are likely overdone. For investors concerned about the risks of inflation, we refresh our analysis on the complex relationship between asset classes and inflation and dig deeper into the implications of higher inflation on equities.

April 2021

Does 2021 Look Like a Good Year for Active Equity Managers?

Active equity managers tend to perform better when the average stock within a market capitalization–weighted index outperforms the index itself.

April 2021