Prove it. That seems to be a mantra among those who struggle a bit with the seismic shift we are seeing today in the role of Environmental Social and Governance factors (ESG) in asset management. For issues such as climate change or global warming which may not be observable, up close and personal, inContinue reading “What’s all this Diversity carry-on…..?”
Author Archives: Eugene Kiernan
Is it time to fire your fund manager?
It may be the most important decision faced by all investors be they pension trustees, family offices, multi-managers or individuals – and it’s a lot riskier than you might think. There are a range of scenarios where the trigger will need to be pulled and some are quite straight-forward. Trust: This is a key featureContinue reading “Is it time to fire your fund manager?”
House!
Are we looking at the wrong things in our financial market outlooks? If you’ve ever had the misfortune to play soccer at really, really low levels, say pub soccer or summer league, there may have been occasions when just as you’re setting up and steadying yourself to take that elegantly curved shot that will skimContinue reading “House!”
Investment Management – the Next Ten Years
Asset Management – the next 10 years What will asset management look like in 10 years-time? Well despite the headlines you may read, what it won’t look like is – One global player using an Artificial Intelligence driven algorithm to invest passively on a rigorous ESG basis and doing it all for nothing. Change inContinue reading “Investment Management – the Next Ten Years”
Five Questions NOT to ask a fund manager
Are you personally invested in the fund? This is usually to get some sense of “skin in the game”, but it’s too easy, and really not that important. The fund manager can answer yes; even if it’s just a small part of a company-wide incentive scheme , that invests in the fund, with a 2Continue reading “Five Questions NOT to ask a fund manager”
When that Investment Long Term becomes just a little bit more Short Term….
Investors need to find a balance between short term and long term factors in making decisions. Focusing purely on short term factors will likely lead to over-trading, higher costs and leave fundamental investors at the mercy of high frequency strategies. All of which will ultimately haemorrhage returns. At the same time, investors do needContinue reading “When that Investment Long Term becomes just a little bit more Short Term….”
Just a minute: China
October 18th 2019 China – This morning’s numbers This morning we got more key indicators on the health of the Chinese economy. The economy grew by 6% in the third quarter, which while marginally weaker than the previous quarter, was reasonably expected by markets. This was the lowest in 26 years. There was better newsContinue reading “Just a minute: China”
Contagion
Today , October 1st, we saw a battery of weak numbers from the manufacturing sectors from the US and Europe. These were the PMI’s (Purchasing Managers’ Indices) – which should give a timely and forward looking indication of the underlying health of the manufacturing base. For the US, we saw the weakest number for aContinue reading “Contagion”
Culture in Asset Management – the “Must Haves” and the “Great to Haves”!
Culture is now a Red Button issue in Irish financial services, from banking to insurance through to asset management. Recently, we have seen the setting up of the Irish Banking Culture Board to remedy cultural shortfalls in the banking sector. The Central Bank of Ireland has raised the issue of culture for asset managers repeatedly,Continue reading “Culture in Asset Management – the “Must Haves” and the “Great to Haves”!”
When the Dust settles….
What matters for markets
ESG: Stop! Look Listen
ESG investing (i.e. incorporating environmental, social and governance factors in investment decision making) seems to be everywhere. FTfm every week is guaranteed to have at least two pieces on it! Most asset managers will include an ESG option in their product range. Most investment conferences have an almost obligatory ESG session. There is largescale lobbyingContinue reading “ESG: Stop! Look Listen”
Half Time!
The first half of 2019 has been very rewarding for investors. The world’s stock markets, as measured by the FTSE World index, are up 16%! Among major markets the US is a clear winner, up 18% while other developed markets are up 13%. For the US, it’s been the best first half since 1997. TheseContinue reading “Half Time!”
The Boys are back in Town!
Dateline: September 23rd 2019 The Boys are Back in Town Last week’s batch of data from the US and Eurozone economies did little to clear the fog around near-term direction. Business confidence remains especially low. One thing is clear though – Central Banks are centre stage – again. Members of the US Federal Reserve saidContinue reading “The Boys are back in Town!”
People to avoid at Parties No. 86 Someone who actually knows what an inverted yield curve is
Yup – it doesn’t rank as the most enthralling of topics, but there are some folks who are obsessed by it. Now if they work in the investment/economic milieu there may be an excuse for that, but if they are in the real world, it may be time to seek help. Why does itContinue reading “People to avoid at Parties No. 86 Someone who actually knows what an inverted yield curve is”
“Neeeaaaoorgheee!”
Tommy Tiernan has a brilliant piece where he discusses the global debt situation. It’s not a typical topic in stand-up comedy and well worth a look on YouTube. https://youtu.be/E8DfCzOS1lE He says we all owe – Germany owes billions of gazzillions, while England owes trillions of willions of billions and as for the USContinue reading ““Neeeaaaoorgheee!””
Travelling and Arriving. Brexit Collateral Damage
The Brexit debate seems mired in dates and deadlines. Progress and attention span is incremental with every week seeming to be all important and then fading into memory. Red lines do little more than lose their colour. In Ireland it is never far from centre stage but even now fatigue and an October deadline haveContinue reading “Travelling and Arriving. Brexit Collateral Damage”
Gin and Tonic anyone?
How did we get here? Look at the graph below. It’s not about GDP or the S&P 500 or CPI – it’s more important than that. This is how much gin we have consumed in Ireland in the past six years. Total growth over that period? – about 125%! Probably doesn’t come as a completeContinue reading “Gin and Tonic anyone?”
Dad’s Army on the outlook for Global Financial Markets
Wall Street, Davos, Walmington-on-sea – all major financial centres. We checked in with the members of the local Home Guard platoon to get their views on the near-term outlook for global financial markets. Captain Mainwaring Now look here men, I can’t tell you that it’s going to be easy. On the contrary it’s going toContinue reading “Dad’s Army on the outlook for Global Financial Markets”
Fund Managers – Brave New World
2018 was a tough year for fund managers. Markets were unforgiving and saved a lot of the angst for the last month of the year. Performance suffered and what the Financial Times labels “flowmaggedon” , where we saw very hefty outflows from funds across a wide range of asset, combined to hit the P&L accountsContinue reading “Fund Managers – Brave New World”
The Next Big Thing
So there’s been a bit of a recovery in stock markets so far this year after a dismal December. It’s not very surprising and it does seem to lack conviction. The year so far has been marked mainly by official downgrades to global economic growth, accompanied at times by “Game of Thrones” rhetoric and headlinesContinue reading “The Next Big Thing”
