Changing Times – 50 Years of UK Pensions

Reading Time: 3 minutes A lot has changed since 1962, particularly in the world of finance and pensions. UBS recently published a weighty tome containing some fascinating data on global markets and pension funds: A long-term perspective on pension fund investment Worth a read, one thing I found particularly interesting was the long-term data going back 50 years on … More Changing Times – 50 Years of UK Pensions

Many Happy (Asset) Returns – part 2

Reading Time: 3 minutes We’ve been through an amazingly benign and profitable time for investors in many financial markets, something I discussed further here. That’s great to know, especially for those that participated. Not so  helpful going forward. A better question is- What’s your expected future return from equities (and other assets)? Simple question, tricky answer. And one we … More Many Happy (Asset) Returns – part 2

Distinguishing Skill & Luck

Reading Time: 4 minutes I’m just back from a sunny and relaxing summer break, where I had the great pleasure of reading and reflecting on the excellent book The Success Equation (“TSE”) by Michael Mauboussin which sets as its goal “untangling skill and luck in business, sports and investing“. The clear aim of this “untangling” being the ability to make better … More Distinguishing Skill & Luck

Modern Day ALM – Get in the Mix

Reading Time: 4 minutes Asset Liability Modelling (“ALM”) sure has come a long way since Frank Redington began talking about the interest rate immunization of life office books in the 1950s, or since models such as the Wilkie Model were first developed to deal with need for stochastic projection of economic variables for insurance companies and later pension funds. Today … More Modern Day ALM – Get in the Mix

Asset Managers & Twitter

Reading Time: < 1 minute I think it’s fair to say that the asset management industry wasn’t initially quick to adopt social media as a means of distributing content. It’s understandable when you consider the level of regulation around financial advice and the required compliance particularly in the larger firms. Add to that the fact that for the more institutionally-focused … More Asset Managers & Twitter

Guernsey is a lovely place …

Reading Time: 3 minutes Situated 120km from Weymouth on the English South Coast, and 50km from Normandy, Guernsey (population 65,000) is a beautifully scenic island with around 50km of coastline and a maritime climate supported by the gulf stream which leads to pleasant summers and mild winters. It is also well known for a regulatory-light insurance regime, leading to the island deriving … More Guernsey is a lovely place …

What David Moyes can teach us about fund managers

Reading Time: 2 minutes   Another week, another expensive and previously high-performing manager is sacked after losing the faith of his employers following a period of under performance. So far so familiar, but am I talking about the Barclays Premiership or the world of UK pensions? And what parallels can we draw between the two? At Redington we believe successful fund … More What David Moyes can teach us about fund managers

A lot can happen in 5 years, the rear view mirror and the road ahead

Reading Time: 4 minutes When “Past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future” has never seemed more apt The rear view mirror It’s now been just over 5 years since equity markets hit their lows at the peak of the fallout from the banking/credit crises of 2008. A lot can happen in 5 years. This year’s crop of … More A lot can happen in 5 years, the rear view mirror and the road ahead