Press

Risk parity implementation starts from the observation that while a traditional 60/40 stock/bond portfolio appears well diversified, equities are a lot more volatile than fixed income securities. Follow the article on The HedgeFund Journal to learn more.

As bond prices fell this month, a big question on the minds of many hedge fund managers was how risk-parity funds were holding up. Because those vehicles apply hefty amounts of leverage to their bond portfolios, they are seen as especially vulnerable to market sell-offs. And because risk-parity products typically take the form of mutual funds, with substantially lower fees than private funds, many hedge fund managers would like nothing more than to see them stumble when volatility increases — as it did following the Nov. 8 election. Read more from Hedge Fund Alert.

A new study of 14 endowments posted on Institutional Investor finds that the top three performers for fiscal year 2016 are those closest to the Yale Model. Here’s why.

Yale’s endowment ran away from its Ivy League peers during the 2016 fiscal year with a 3.4% total return, according to a report from Markov Process International. Princeton came in second place with an 0.8% return, the only other school with a positive return. Read more about the study on Pensions & Investments.

In an article posted by Investment & Pensions Europe, Apollon Fragkiskos reports that despite the increase in risk in many asset classes from a year ago, risk parity funds have weathered this summer’s volatile markets.

At Standard Life Investments the Global Absolute Return Strategies group of funds has swollen to £50 billion in size. Fears about it growing too large have surfaced frequently in 2016 as performance has dropped off dramatically. Read more on Financial News.

An analyst has outlined possible reasons why the performance of Standard Life Investments’ £27bn Global Absolute Return fund has deteriorated over the past 18 months, pointing to the “strategic bets” which could have dented returns. Learn more about the article published by FT Advisor.

A comprehensive investigation into Standard Life Investments’ Global Absolute Return Strategy (Gars) fund sheds light on why the £27 billion fund has struggled recently. Read more on this insight at Wealth Manager.

MPI has a new report out on Barrons looking at low-vol smart beta funds. The firm’s conclusion? Low-vol does deliver on its claim to keep volatility down, but outperformance is trickier.

Given the low yield environment, fixed income investing is less able to play its traditional role. But rather than taking on more risk to hunt for yield, should bonds be used in a more defensive manner to diversify portfolios? MPI addresses this topic on Professional Wealth Management.