All Active articles – Page 2
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White papersAgentic AI for Financial Applications: A Comprehensive Survey
Language models have given rise to agentic AI: autonomous systems that pursue high-level goals through tool use, orchestration, and adaptation. Although prior surveys treat financial applications, agent architectures, and fine-tuning methods in isolation, this review integrates the full agentic stack.
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White papersHigh Yield Has Changed. Have Perceptions Kept Up?
Welcome to this month’s edition of Where Credit is Due—a newsletter from Barings recognizing value across the people and portfolios shaping credit markets today.
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White papersHiring a Systematic Bond Manager? Seven Questions for Candidates
Systematic bond investing needs specialist skills and resources. Has your manager got what it takes?
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White papersCutting through the noise: Why lower and core middle market direct lending still delivers value in clients’ portfolios
Private credit has become one of the most discussed corners of institutional investing — and one of the most misunderstood. Daily headlines about troubled borrowers, struggling business development companies (BDCs), redemption pressure, and concentrated software exposure have created the impression of a market under stress. But beneath the noise, the lower and core middle market direct lending segment that has historically powered investor outcomes is performing well, behaving as designed, and, in our view, is about to deliver one of its most attractive vintages in years.
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White papersFrom Repricing to Relevance
Commercial real estate is entering a new phase. Artificial intelligence and geopolitical volatility are reshaping how physical space is used and valued.
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White papersThe New Role of Geopolitical Risk in Bond Investing
Interest rate volatility is reshaping bond markets. We examine why geopolitical risks have become increasingly linked to bond market volatility since 2025, and discuss the implications for the term premium, fixed income positioning and investment opportunities.
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White papersHigh Yield Holding Firm as Opportunities Evolve
High yield bonds and loans remain well supported by resilient fundamentals and strong demand, with attractive all-in yields continuing to drive investor interest even as spreads remain tight.
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VideoCase video: Child-Lens Investing in practice
Child-Lens Investing recognises children as key stakeholders in financial decision-making and strives for positive investment outcomes for children. But what does this mean in practice?
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White papersPassive in Name Only: The Active Bet Within Your Equity Index
Broad-market benchmarks have gone all in on the AI theme. Do equity investors really want to make that bet?
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White papersPrivate Equity: Distributions Are Bouncing Back
Global private equity exits are on track for yet another robust year, potentially extending the year-on-year recovery in divestment activity and investor distributions since 2024. While sales to strategic or corporate buyers and sponsor to sponsor deals continue to dominate…
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White papersAI and Alpha: Why Technology Alone Won’t Be Enough
AI may be the next big alpha engine—but access alone won’t create a lasting edge.
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White papersFour charts that expose market concentration risk
Since ChatGPT launched in 2022, some AI-related stocks have soared to record highs despite elevated inflation, sweeping tariffs and war in the Middle East. A small group of companies now make up an outsized share of the US market, pushing concentration to levels not seen in decades.
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White papersHedge Fund Outlook H2 2026
Hedge fund (HF) performance remained strong in H1 2026. Industry alpha also stayed elevated. The quality of HF returns, combined with investors’ search for diversification and the headline noise surrounding private assets, has continued to attract flows into the industry.
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White papersWhen safe isn’t safe
Artificial intelligence is real, powerful, and beginning to reshape the economy. What is yet to be determined, however, is whether financial markets have pulled forward too much of this future too quickly, and into too narrow a set of stocks. As AI becomes the dominant market narrative, the distinction between revolutionary technology and durable investment return rarely mattered more.
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White papersSix Themes Redefining the Corporate Hybrid Market
The corporate hybrid market has gone global, with issuance hitting €108 billion in 2025. Six forces are reshaping what this asset class is, who issues it, and how investors should approach it.
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White papersEuro Investment Grade: Carry and income drive returns
This article is part of the Fixed Income Quarterly Outlook for Q3 2026, covering Emerging Market Debt, Euro Credit, Euro High Yield, Sovereign Bonds and US Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities.
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White papersMore US Stocks Are Marching to a Different Beat
AI leadership has left many stocks moving to a different rhythm. Investors should tune in.
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White papersWhy value can never go out of style in high yield
There is an unappealing paradox at the heart of investing in line with a bond index: the more indebted an issuer, the larger its place in the benchmark. The largest 20% of issuers account for close to 60% of the ICE BofA Global High Yield Index, for instance.¹
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White papersBuilding unexpected bridges in high yield
The active-passive debate has long been framed as a contest between competing investment philosophies. In equities, the distinction is familiar: passive delivers low-cost market exposure, while active promises the possibility of outperformance through stock selection.
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White papersA unique market moment and the case for active judgement
We are living through an extraordinary market environment. The level of concentration in many equity benchmarks has increased significantly.
