A Decade of UK Pension Risk Management in 2 Charts

Reading Time: < 1 minute The two charts below (data sourced from the PPF website) really tell you everything you need to know about risk management of UK pension funds over the last 10 years. Assets have grown steadily from c£700bn to c £1.3trn, although admittedly a very large part of this (possibly all of it) is due to contributions. … More A Decade of UK Pension Risk Management in 2 Charts

Tail Risks, LTCM & Constant Volatility … notes from a lunch with Myron Scholes

Reading Time: 2 minutes I had the very great privilege of taking part in a roundtable lunch with Myron Scholes last week, thanks to Janus Capital (see unashamed photo below) – hosted in the Fenchurch Brasserie in the well-known “walkie-talkie” building in London the views were pretty good as well (see below). Despite his fame, Myron still clearly thinks deeply … More Tail Risks, LTCM & Constant Volatility … notes from a lunch with Myron Scholes

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

Many Happy (Asset) Returns – part 1

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

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

LDI Continues to Thrive – 5 Takeaways from the KPMG Survey

Reading Time: 2 minutes As the UK Liability Driven Investing (LDI) market has grown over the last decade the KPMG LDI Survey “Navigating the LDI Market” has become a really useful tool for understanding the growth of the market at a high level and who the major players are from an asset management perspective. The latest version of the survey, … More LDI Continues to Thrive – 5 Takeaways from the KPMG Survey