Market insight

• Outlook: Flatlining at The New Neutral

  Are markets right to assume the federal funds rate has peaked? Is China the swing factor for growth? Is the trade war passé. These and other questions are answered in PIMCO’s latest outlook.

  

• Expanding impact through the public bond markets

  Tapping public bond markets, and embracing a broad universe of investments beyond green bonds, can help insurers deliver on their impact-investing goals.

  

• Real estate debt: downside protection in the spotlight as market cycle turns

  Real estate debt has many attractions for insurers but as we progress through the market cycle, downside protection is taking centre stage, writes M&G's Duncan Batty

  

• Ethics & alpha: Can investing responsibly enhance returns?

  In recent years researchers from both academia and the asset management industry, drawing on an ever-expanding universe of data, have conducted numerous studies to establish whether such a relationship exists.

  

• Disruptive technologies challenge traditional infrastructure approach

  The future of infrastructure investment requires a dynamic, flexible, open-ended approach that takes into account the innovation in the sector and understands the potential positive impact on returns from emerging technologies.

  

• Emerging market corporate debt stands alone

  Emerging market corporate debt has been a rapidly growing universe over the last 10 years. What might be of surprise is that over 55% of the EM corporate universe is investment grade.

  

• Back to investment basics

  In this third and final article I look at investment strategies that “work” for insurers. Whilst touching on more modern diversified growth and absolute return bond fund strategies, we find opportunities that can be overlooked in plain vanilla equities, convertibles and even conventional multi asset strategies

  

• Innovation and quality the keys to pushing data's boundaries

  Today's technology environment is changing at lightning speed. At the centre of this revolution is information backed by tools like cloud, AI and machine learning. So how best to harness the technology?

  

• Getting comfortable with asset risk

  Dick Rae of BMO Global Asset Management explores how insurers' exposure to market risk varies and compares how typical British, French and German non-life companies behave

  

• Asset Risk Optimisation

  Dick Rae of BMO Global Asset Management looks at asset optimisation and the extent to which risk can influence asset allocation.