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
Reading Time: 2 minutes The PPF publishes regular updates on the financial health of DB pension schemes in the UK (the PPF 7800 index) and also its own funding position. In recent times there has been quite some contrast between the two sets of figures (thanks to Pensions Expert for a great article highlighting this. Sure, the PPF collects … More What Can Pension Schemes Learn from the PPF ?
Reading Time: < 1 minute We’ve experienced a rollercoaster ride so far this year when it comes to government bond yields. For pension funds that haven’t hedged this risk, this has meant a lot of volatility in their position coming from the liability side of their balance sheet from one month to the next. It’s amazing really that in the 8 … More Snakes, Ladders & Pension Deficits
Reading Time: 2 minutes It can be easy to forget when caught up in day-to-day events and headlines that we’ve been through an incredibly benign and profitable period for any individual or organisation investing in financial markets. One way of illustrating this, which we particularly like is to look not just at the returns that have been generated, but a measure … More Many Happy (Asset) Returns – part 1
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
Reading Time: 2 minutes Any pension scheme looking to produce a valuation as at 30 June 2015 is likely to be showing a more favorable overall position than they would have done in March 2015 or December 2014 (as demonstrated by data from the PPF 7800 index of pension funds updated to May 2015 below). The overall funding level … More Rates Rollercoaster Continues
Reading Time: 3 minutes I really feel that asset managers have stepped up their game in the last 12 months when it comes to posting content on twitter (I made this point in a previous post here), even the institutionally-focused managers who previously might not have seen much upside from the mass-market reach of twitter. I find good quality … More Which asset managers post the best content on twitter?
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
