All Indices/benchmarks articles
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White papersIndex investing is not index administration
‘Index 2.0’ allows investors to define what they own and why. We examine a route to index customisation that aims to keep the discipline of an index while minimising the administrative frictions of an index provider.
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White papersOld ideas, new applications: the evolution of index and rules-based investing
In this article we explain how ideas with roots in the 1970s – from factor investing to the foundations of UBS HOLT – are being applied to modern index and rules-based strategies through new data, research and portfolio construction techniques.
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White papersEnhanced indexing – bridging active and passive investing
Investment strategies that sit between passive and highly active management have gained increasing attention from investors. Often referred to as enhanced indexing, active indexing or smart beta, these approaches combine features of both investment styles.
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PodcastFocus on the broader EM opportunity – not just the tech titans
Emerging market equities have staged a powerful comeback, led by AI-related companies in Korea and Taiwan. However, the bigger long-term EM opportunity favors a systematic, broad-universe approach.
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White papersBeyond Developed and Emerging
Country classifications are often presented as labels attached to markets. In practice, they are de facto allocation decisions. They determine which countries enter a mandate, where risk is reported and how capital is allocated amongst developed and emerging markets.
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White papersRedrawing the map of sovereign investing
For much of the past two decades, the case for developed market government bonds at the centre of fixed income portfolios rested on three assumptions: inflation would remain contained, central banks would provide a dependable source of demand, and rising sovereign debt would be readily absorbed. Each now looks less secure.
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White papersIndex investing has flaws. Institutional investors can do better.
Imagine receiving this pitch: “I have an investment strategy for you. It aims to provide a rough representation of the market. It is mostly rules-based, with some exceptions. We have no say in what we buy or sell. We outsource these decisions to another entity. They will tell everyone what ...
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White papersA differentiated approach to EM debt
Emerging markets (EM) debt offers a broad and differentiated opportunity set, with sources of risk and return that are underrepresented in a typical asset allocation mix. The asset class spans a wide variety of instruments from countries at vastly different stages of economic and political development.
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White papersWhy market structure rewards active management in local currency EMD
Local currency emerging market debt (EMD) has matured into one of the most diverse opportunity sets in global fixed income. Issuance has grown, liquidity has deepened, yield curves have developed, and the ownership base has broadened across domestic and international investors. For many emerging economies, a functioning local bond market and credible monetary policy are now signals of economic development rather than aspirations.
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White papersSo, Why Don’t You Own It? Understanding Underweights in Equity Investing
Concentrated markets demand active choices about which risks to avoid.
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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 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 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.
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White papersHealthcare Investing: Finding Growth Beyond Pharmaceuticals
Equity investors should cast a wide net to capture the healthcare sector’s full potential.
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White papersBond Portfolio Optimization
Although bond portfolio optimization is one of the oldest applications of the mean-variance framework, it is considerably less developed and adopted than its equity and multi-asset counterparts. This paper presents a comprehensive framework for bond portfolio optimization applied to investment universes composed of individual securities.
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White papersCelebrating Independence Day: from the American Revolution to the stockmarket revolution
The US has a deep equity culture that has evolved alongside the nation. On the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, Daniel White highlights the characteristics that have driven the US stockmarket’s remarkable long-term investment returns.
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White papersThe Ghost Rally: What We See Really Driving Emerging Markets in 2026
When a handful of stocks drive an entire index, history suggests investors should pay close attention
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White papersCIO Weekly: To Infinity and Beyond…SpaceX’s IPO
The SpaceX IPO is without precedent in scale and structure. Its implications for markets, indices and portfolios extend well beyond the deal itself.
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BlogIt’s time to include listed companies in your impact strategy
Our investment landscapes are changing. New risks like social unrest, extreme weather events, and geoeconomic stress have officially moved into the mainstream. One in two experts polled by the World Economic Forum expects risk levels to increase sharply this year and to continue climbing. The top five risks identified are geoeconomic confrontation (18% of votes), state-based armed conflict (14%), extreme weather events (8%), social polarisation (7%) as well as misinformation and disinformation (7%). These trends reflect a world where ethical foundations are eroding, amplifying instability and risk.
