The Global Investment Report

Towards the SDGs: Robust ES Data from Better Supply Chains Monitoring

Towards the SDGs: Possible Aspects of Future Regulations

This presentation will show how the use of Alternative Asset Classes and individual Alternative Assets can substantially increase portfolio returns while reducing portfolio risk. Convertible Securities as an asset class in a Multi-Asset portfolio and its income generating and portfolio risk reductions characteristics will also be discussed. Here are some of the topics which will be discussed:

• Generation of Cash Flow
• Preservation of Capital
• Asset Appreciation
• Portfolio Diversification
• Achieving Potential Tax Benefits
• High Overall Returns
• Correlations with Other Asset Classes – Low Correlation, Non-correlated, Negative Correlation
• Convertible Securities

In recent years, US stocks have far outperformed international stocks. Growth stocks have far outperformed value stocks. This has led to question the benefits of diversification and ask what they should do when an investment strategy performs poorly.

The goal of this talk is to answer that very question: what should you do about poor performance? We will discuss the value of patience and how the all-too-human problems of recency bias, relativism and engaging leads many investors to abandon well-thought out plans.

Part 1 Challenges to diversification: 15 minutes

- Growth stocks led the way.
- Black swans are more common than we think.
- Mislabeled “fake” strategies such as many ARPs rely on a narrow set of conventional returns drivers. Most returns can be explained by traditional betas.
- Most strategies move in sync under stress.

Part 2. Best practices to overcome common pitfalls: 15 minutes

- Multi-asset and ability to go Long and short.
- Incorporate many uncorrelated factors with examples.
- Incorporate cross asset relationships with examples.
- Control directionality and control leverage in line with market volatility.
- Evidenced with Acadian’s MAARS correlation and performance.

Presented by:

Seth Weingram, Ph.D. – Senior Vice President, Director, Client Advisory, Acadian
Thomas Dobler, Ph.D. – Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Multi-Asset Class Strategies, Acadian

Multi Asset has been one of the most successful strategies with respect to attracting new assets over the last fifteen years. But the tides might turn in the decade ahead.

Low returns from bonds as one of the longest bond bull markets in economic history - according to research from BoE- is finally over. High levels of government debt, reinforced by the COVID 19 pandemic, might lead to an ongoing low interest rate scenario and “financial repression” (negative real rates) for decades to come. Low equity returns should be expected because of low earnings growth - especially in Europe, where index earnings are lower than 10 years ago - or high valuations like in the US.

Diversification across asset classes doesn´t work anymore. Bonds lost their diversification benefits over the last couple of years, which leads to higher overall risk in Multi Asset portfolios. For a similar level of volatility and drawdown than during the past 15 years, exposures to risky assets should be lower – in contrast to what investors are doing today.

Implication might be the end of Multi Asset as it has been delivered over the last 15 years. New sources of return and diversification are needed and classical asset allocation, as we know it, must be replaced by risk-based - or total portfolio approaches.

The webinar is about new sources of return, combining traditional and alternative risk premia in one portfolio, new sources of diversification as risk mitigation strategies might be more effective than bonds in the years ahead and a Total Portfolio Approach as a more risk-efficient framework than classical asset allocation.

Purchasing discounted mortgages and enabling borrowers to stay in their homes.

There are millions of distressed homeowners desperately looking for solutions that would enable them to stay in their homes. These homeowners face the enormous pressure of a difficult task. Unfortunately, there are likely to be millions more.

Join us to explore the solution to this growing problem. During the last crash, this solution not only saved millions of people’s homes but also helped expedite the turn-around of the real estate market. We will cover:

- What real-estate-backed mortgages are and how to purchase them at a discount
- Why these investments provide safety and high returns
- Why these assets should be a part of everyone’s portfolio
- Why it is so easy to invest in these assets today
- How to be a part of the profitable solution to a growing problem

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the impact was felt swiftly across industries, communities and markets as social distancing practices were quickly adopted, the use of shared community spaces began to decline and people across the globe significantly increased time spent in their homes. This shift has amplified one of the largest, recent housing sensations in commercial real estate - Build-for-Rent (BFR) communities. What started during the Great Recession, Build-for-Rent - a commercial investment asset class focused on buying a large number of newly-built rental homes - is today rising again to the forefront in both popularity and investor demand at an accelerated rate.

It isn’t often that commercial real estate embraces a new asset class, but the institutionalization of the BFR investment segment has it quickly becoming a preferred investment segment due to its ability to significantly gain scale, reduced operating costs when compared with older vintage SFR homes, and increased property management efficiency. These benefits, paired with the BFR asset class’s resiliency during downturns, has institutional investors taking notice in a big way.

Join Jeff Cline, CEO of SFR Capital Management, LLC, who leads SVN | SFR Capital Fund I, LP, a $1 billion institutional-grade BFR-focused aggregation fund, to hear about the BFR asset class that is leading the commercial real estate segment. In this presentation, Cline will discuss:

- An overview of this new commercial real estate asset class and its leading the CRE segment.
- Pandemic financial performance compared with other investment segments.
- A comparison of all CRE asset classes for investment.
- A look at what’s to come in 2021 and beyond.

2020 was supposed to be the year for active fixed income management. Did the hype match the facts? In this session, JR Rieger will discuss the performance, benefits, and pitfalls of active & passive fixed income fund investing options along with the challenges ahead for fixed income funds as we look towards 2021.

As the U.S. continues to emerge from a recessionary period and adapt to life during a pandemic, learn where Claraphi Advisory Network’s Chief Investment Officer Andrew Tang is seeing opportunity and risk.

During this webinar, Andrew will discuss the upcoming election’s potential impact on the market and the actions his team is taking to mitigate risk, as well as his economic outlook for the rest of the year.

Andrew Tang is a seasoned investment strategist responsible for establishing and managing Claraphi Advisory Network’s short- and long-term investment strategies. With his guidance, the portfolio management team builds and monitors customized investment portfolios that focus on the unique investment objectives, risk tolerances and financial goals of each Claraphi client. Andrew and his team also support Claraphi’s national network of independent financial advisors with implementing and growing their fee-based asset management practices on the Claraphi platform.

​Andrew launched his financial services career as a Private Account Executive at Sands Brothers & Company in 1998 and joined Wachovia Securities Financial Network as an investment adviser representative in 2001. He joined Claraphi in 2013, after a decade with National Asset Management (NAM) where, during his tenure, he was promoted from Director of Operations to Managing Director of Advisory Services.

Andrew holds the Series 65 securities registration. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston University and holds certificates in commodities trading and financial planning from New York University.

The Global Pandemic has acted as catalyst for rapid change around the world. Business models, social norms, spending habits and outlooks have all been tested. Additionally a new co-ordination of fiscal and monetary policy has also been unleashed on the world, leading to a landscape with greater government intervention in market functioning and support. The culmination of these factors will have an unrelenting impact on virtually all investable asset classes: a result of the changing and manipulated market environment.

During this presentation, Chris Marshall, Head of Investment Strategy at Dragon IM, will walk through some of the changes that need to be considered at the asset allocation level, along with a look back through history to uncover how key assets have an inbuilt economic bias to key environments, and how these can be used to optimise tactical and strategic allocations.

For equity investors keen to tap into long-term Emerging Market economic growth, but wary of the increased risks, we offer a possible solution: ‘The Subsidaries Concept’ – investing solely in listed ‘subsidiaries’ of developed market companies operating in Emerging Markets.

How do we define a subsidiary? We do not apply the strict accounting definition of a subsidiary to our concept, although most of the companies we invest in do adhere to this. The concept includes companies with a licensing or distribution agreement with a Developed Market company, or a company listed on a Developed Market that operates predominantly in the Emerging World. What is important to us is whether the company receives Developed Market oversight, and benefits materially from its relationship.

How big is this investment universe? We have discovered over 800 subsidiaries, well diversified by region and sector, with a combined market cap of over USD 2,000 billion – as big as many stock markets throughout the world.

Why invest in subsidiaries?

- Developed market levels of governance: this reduces risks and provides huge ESG benefits.
- Commercial advantages: these are world-renowned companies with a history of profitable overseas expansion – their subsidiaries benefit from the technology, brand and experience that made their parents a household name.
- Focused on their local market: parents will set their subsidiaries up to sell goods and services domestically, typically only focused on one industry – this allows us to gain exposure to individual sectors within the economies that interest us.
- Income: without specifically targeting income, our Global Emerging Markets Fund has consistently yielded over 4% - a natural side-effect of the subsidiaries concept.
- When adding all of these factors together we are able to take a long-term view, accessing the fast-growing economies of the Emerging World in a long-term, sustainable, risk-averse way.

Distress creates market opportunities - especially in real estate. When the real estate bubble burst in 2008, fund managers raised $44.7B. In the first half of 2020 alone, Anticipating post-COVID opportunities, firms are seeking more than $67B across 59 funds, according to data provider Preqin Ltd.

Investing in promissory notes is one way that fund managers are finding opportunties.

How does note investing work and how can professionals and retail investors alike profit?

Join this webinar to learn about:
- The size of the note market
- Why opportunities will be created in a post-COVID-19 world
- Why distressed debt could be good for a portfolio"