How the Fed’s COVID-19 Programs Affected Markets and Investors
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, financial markets have experienced levels of disruption not seen since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. After bid-ask spreads widened dramatically in March across a broad array of fixed income sectors—including off-the-run U.S. Treasuries!—a series of Federal Reserve programs has restored investor confidence and liquidity, and […]
How Investment Managers Are Handling the Pandemic’s Impact
View Survey This month Callan conducted a survey aimed at gauging how investment managers have been coping with the impact of COVID-19 and the subsequent quarantine on their operations, and to gather insights about their plans. As our industry navigates the uncertainty, devastation, and confusion surrounding the pandemic, we found that managers across the globe […]
Revisiting the Discussion About Futures-Based Portfolio Overlays
Lately, we have been advising our clients about issues that fall into two distinct categories: What can I do today with what I already own? What can I start doing now to give me a better set of tools in the future? To the first category, liquidity has been constrained and transaction costs prohibitively high […]
Rebalancing in a Time of Volatility
With the sharp decline in equities worldwide, many institutional investors find themselves overweight fixed income and underweight equities. In many cases, strategic policy ranges set by the long-term planning process have been breached. Given all of the uncertainty and market volatility, many of our clients are wondering what to do next. Should the portfolio be […]
Local Presence for Multinational Managers Invested in China – Key Takeaways
As China’s stock market is rapidly integrated into the global financial markets, it is critical for institutional investors to understand the operational benefits and challenges that investment managers face in that country. To get a better sense of this issue, I met with multinational managers in China last December and discussed the benefits and challenges […]
Assessing the Equity Market Impact of the Coronavirus for Institutional Investors
Since the first illness was reported in China in December 2019, the coronavirus has affected over 80,000 people globally and caused nearly 3,000 deaths, with reports almost each day of the virus spreading to additional areas. The majority of the pain so far has been felt in China and by companies with operations there. Many […]
Tilting for Yield
At the start of every year, foundation investment committees examine a number of portfolio optimizations to arrive at a CPI+5% return portfolio. The inflation term ensures that the corpus of the fund remains intact, and 5% covers the average annual distribution requirement. But is that the whole story? Traditional financial theory would hold that foundations […]
Callan’s Fee Study Highlights Key Industry Trends
View the Study Callan has just published the 2019 Investment Management Fee Study, which provides a detailed analysis on fee levels and trends across multiple asset classes and mandate sizes for both active and passive management. The analysis gives insight into what institutional investors are actually paying (negotiated fees) versus the managers’ published fee schedules. The study, […]
ESG: What the Future May Hold
Read full survey Incorporation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors has seen a meteoric rise in usage among institutional investors over the last several years. While not every institutional investor actively incorporates these factors into their investment decision-making process today, the rate of adoption and frequency of discussion among Callan’s clients has continued to […]
Callan Survey: ESG Here to Stay in the U.S.
View the Survey Institutional investors have been grappling for years with the issue of quantifying non-financial investment considerations and applying them to an investment decision-making framework. This is true for defining environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, but despite the challenges investors are persisting in finding novel solutions. And as research, data, and resources become […]