Institutional Asset Manager Newsletter

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NEWSLETTER | 11 Dec 2020

The path to post-pandemic recovery grows greener in 2021

A tumultuous end to the year approaches, with a no-deal Brexit now considered more likely than reaching an agreement before Sunday’s deadline, and little sign of a new spending package on the horizon in the US as coronavirus deaths rise.

But if the EU’s recently-agreed EUR1.8 trillion budget and post-pandemic recovery package are anything to go by, leaders looking to enshrine the lessons of the pandemic are scaling up their commitment to build back better in 2021.

Top of the agenda is climate change, with the new budget laying the groundwork for EU leaders to agree further ambitious reductions in carbon emissions, with cuts of at least 55 per cent from 1990 levels by 2030.

This new target puts the EU back on the path to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and the bloc is set to present its new plan at a United Nations virtual summit of world leaders on Saturday.

Asset managers are also embracing the green recovery, with the world’s fifth largest asset manager in the world, Fidelity International, saying it will “close the gaps” in its climate change initiatives, in order to reach net zero operational emissions by 2040.

“I think it is time for capitalism to look at itself and go through one of its periodic reinventions. And I think we as a global asset manager should be at the centre of that reinvention,” said Fidelity’s CEO, Anne Richards.

Sustainable investment group Mirova has also rebuffed claims that there is a “green bubble” in the market, instead renewing its commitments by signing up to become a “mission-led” company and B Corp.

Investors are flooding into ESG at an unprecedented pace. In November, ESG equity funds garnered higher inflows over the month than the total amount raised during the five years to January 2020.

However, most institutional investors believe that the market is underestimating the long-term impacts of the pandemic, with Covid-19 relief packages expiring and the risk of negative interest rates hanging over markets in 2021.

maddy taylor signature.png

Madeleine Taylor
Editor, Institutional Asset Manager
maddy.taylor@globalfundmedia.com

Fri | 11 Dec 2020, 12:10

Despite the impact of Covid-19, State Street's survey annual Growth Readiness Study reveals that more than two-thirds of European institutional investors (67 per cent) were able to meet or exceed their investment performance targets over the last 12 months.

Fri | 11 Dec 2020, 12:10

A new survey of professional investors in the UK, US and Germany, reveals that 80 per cent think small and micro-caps are a good investment opportunity in the current market, while three quarters (76 per cent) believe investors should increase their exposure here over the next six to 12 months.

Fri | 11 Dec 2020, 12:10

Curv, a specialist in digital asset security, has launched Curv DeFi, an enterprise-grade decentralised finance (DeFi) solution for institutions.

Fri | 11 Dec 2020, 12:10

Lukka, a crypto asset software and data provider, has completed its Series C funding led by State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) with participation from S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), and CPA.com, the business and technology subsidiary of the AICPA.

Angel Oak’s Multi-Strategy Income UCITS Fund nears USD1bn in AUM

Fri | 11 Dec 2020, 12:10

Angel Oak Capital Advisors, a US-based investment management firm specialising in structured credit, is celebrating the five-year anniversary of the MontLake Angel Oak Multi-Strategy Income UCITS Fund.

Fri | 11 Dec 2020, 12:10

Kempen Capital Management (Kempen) has signed the Net Zero Asset Managers commitment, an initiative for a group of international asset managers to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in their portfolios by 2050.

Fri | 11 Dec 2020, 12:10

IHS Markit, a specialist in critical information, analytics and expertise, has appointed capital markets veteran Seiichiro Miyaoka as Managing Director and APAC Head of the Global Markets Group (GMG).

Fri | 11 Dec 2020, 12:10

LOIM, 1798 Alternatives | 1798 Fundamental Strategies Fund: Best Multi-Manager Hedge Fund (Multi-Strategy) – Lombard Odier Investment Managers established its own alternatives business, 1798 Alternatives, in 2007 and is headed up by Jean-Pascal Porcherot (pictured). Since inception, its AUM has grown to USD4.9 billion within liquid alternatives and hedge funds. More specifically, USD0.9 billion is held in a multi-strategy product that invests in a range of equity, relative value, tail risk, and event driven strategies across a number of investment styles.

Fri | 11 Dec 2020, 12:10

Arena Investors: Best Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund – Arena Investors currently manages USD1.7 billion in assets and since its inception in 2015 the firm has deployed USD2.4 billion across 203 transactions. Daniel Zwirn is Arena’s CEO and CIO and oversees the investment team. Arena invests across six verticals, which include: corporate private credit, real estate private credit, commercial and industrial assets, structured finance, consumer assets, and corporate securities.