Equities – Page 31
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Our preparations for the reform of LIBOR
LIBOR will continue giving way to replacement rates ahead of its retirement by the end of 2021. We will soon be familiar with SONIA in the UK, ESTR in Europe and SOFR in the US. Work continues across M&G and the industry to ensure as smooth a transition as possible to the new rates. This bank of Frequently Asked Questions aims to assist understanding of what’s happening, why it’s happening and how we expect it might affect investments.
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Equity markets: All set for a jumpy summer?
Global equities continued to make gains in June, but less so than in April and May, and more chaotically. Investors remain concerned about a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. And although hard economic data has begun to point to a recovery, the recession has remained horribly deep.
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Protecting biodiversity through sustainable land use
The global pandemic has highlighted the causal links between biodiversity loss and climate change, and the emergence of infectious diseases. In the third article in our pandemic series, Sonya Likhtman explores how deforestation and industrialised agriculture contribute to biodiversity loss, and why companies must ensure sustainable land use throughout their value chains.
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The CX factor
Amid the coronavirus lockdown, asset managers are finding new ways to communicate with their clients remotely. The industry has much to learn from tech and e-commerce companies that deliver top-class client experience from a distance.
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Global Equities case study: how Zoetis is advancing animal health
Our Global Equity ESG strategy aims to invest in companies with a combination of time-tested fundamental and environmental, social and governance (ESG) characteristics that are attractively priced. This is well-illustrated through our exposure to current holding Zoetis.
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Tackling the climate crisis
Climate change is the defining challenge of our time and we are at a defining moment. As we navigate through the coronavirus and its impacts, we have an opportunity to shape the post-pandemic world so that confronting the climate emergency is an undisputed global priority.
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Catalysing impact: how investors can fight climate change
Amid the dislocation of the coronavirus, it is easy to forget that just a few short months ago the debate about the climate crisis – and our collective response – was gaining momentum. In the first of two special climate-focused episodes of Fundamentals, we ask: is climate action taking a back seat to Covid-19? And what role can impact strategies play in tackling the most defining challenge of our time?
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Samsung Electronics: driving the sustainability agenda in emerging markets
Our Global Equity ESG strategy aims to invest in companies with a combination of time-tested fundamental and environmental, social and governance (ESG) characteristics that are attractively priced. We believe that companies with a competitive advantage and sustainable business models are likely to offer visibility of earnings growth. This can be demonstrated through our exposure to South Korean consumer and industrial electronic equipment company, Samsung Electronics.
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HKD: sailing through the turbulence
Caught in the struggle between Beijing and Washington, can Hong Kong pull through the hardship without special trade status? Is Trump’s announcement symbolic or destructive for the territory? Will the Hong Kong dollar peg fall apart? We review these questions one by one in this analysis.
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Why pension funds should consider impact investing
Besides supporting pension funds in achieving their financial goals, impact investing helps them to meet the growing appetite for integrating sustainability into their portfolios.
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Biden’s election momentum and financial markets
Joe Biden has a historically large lead over President Donald Trump in the polls, including in the critical electoral college vote, but that could narrow closer to the election.The slide in Trump’s approval rating was most noticeable among senior citizens and he has not led in a single major poll so far this year, though it should be noted that polls have proved unreliable in the past few elections. To put Biden’s lead in perspective, no prior candidate or President has seen a lead this large at this point of the race. However, Trump still holds onto slightly favourable ratings on the economy. A game changer could be the Democratic party taking control of the Senate, which appared unlikely early this year.
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Will Europe Waste The Crisis?
Investors should be rooting for EU leaders as they attempt reforms that do more than just ease the immediate pain.
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Crisis and resilience – Navigating a sustainable recovery
When we emerge from the pandemic, an important issue will be whether the collaboration and focus can be maintained and harnessed to address the climate crisis or other global issues.
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Why Aren’t Markets Tanking?
There’s a list of reasons that might make an investor squirm, but there may be change afoot they should watch closely.
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The day after #5 - New Frontiers for Central Banks
Central Banks (CBs) are by nature more flexible than governments. Thus, they have been the most proactive in this crisis, reintroducing large-scale asset-purchase programmes financed by money creation (QE policies). With this pandemic, a spectacular change in economic policy has taken place in just a few months: fiscal and monetary policies have become intertwined, and this is probably not reversible. While governments have become the buyers of last resort, CBs are playing their role as lenders of last resort. How far can they go? We argue here that CBs are still far from being out of ammunition. Financial repression and fiscal dominance are here to stay. CBs will maintain low bond yields for an extended period of time to alleviate the burden on the most leveraged agents.
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“The World’s Factory” Reopens
Just as Chinese manufacturers are coming back online, the rest of the global economy is still struggling to contain the outbreak. With overseas demand for Chinese manufactured goods weakening, where does demand come from? How might this affect China’s economy?
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Market weekly – Do you have the equity protection you need? (podcast)
Equity bull markets run out of steam eventually, plunging investors into periods of volatility. The end of the rally that ran from 2009 to 2019 is no exception. Institutional investors are now negotiating choppy waters with instable markets, a health crisis and a global recession. They face the challenge of investing in equities to achieve their return objectives while respecting risk constraints and managing downside risk from the bouts of volatility that regularly affect markets.
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Cobalt mining in the DRC – reflections from the ground
Dangerous working conditions and human rights violations are among the risks faced by cobalt miners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Late last year, engager Marcus Wilert joined an OECD delegation to the DRC to see the conditions first-hand. Here he reflects on some of the challenges.
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Why ESG Is Outperforming The S&P 500
Over the past year, the S&P 500 ESG Index exhibited returns nearly 3% above the benchmark S&P 500. This is impressive given the objective of the ESG Index is not to outperform the benchmark. Instead, it can offer a sustainable alternative to the broad-based S&P 500, with similar risk and return, while at the same time achieving a boost in S&P Dow Jones Indexes ESG Score performance.