Opalesque Radio

Radio Feature 138: Sona Blessing in conversation with Keith Black

Fri, 09 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Keith Black, PhD, is Managing Director, Curriculum and Exams at the CAIA Association. Slides that accompany this Podcast&s content can be downloaded here: https://www.caia.org/sites/default/files/the_state_of_ai_keith_black_june_1017.pdf In this podcast he shares his insights on: - Investor concerns with global equity and debt valuations - An allocation shift to capture yield across the alternative assets spectrum: notable fund inflows to infrastructure, private equity and natural resource assets - The raison d&etre for USD 1 billion+ endowments and foundations to allocate 58% to alternative investment - Exploring and exploiting the illiquidity premium vs. liquid alternative products - Geographic shifts in asset allocation - substantial decline in VC deals in the U.S. and Europe vs stepped-up interest in emerging markets and assets - Seeking yield in riskier assets, a concern as interest rates rise
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Radio Feature 137: Sona Blessing in conversation with Monica Fuentes

Wed, 31 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Since 2015, Monica Fuentes, PhD, is Chief Investment Officer of the General Partner, OBrien Investment Group, responsible for portfolio management and trading for the Partnership. She is also portfolio manager of their Global Macro strategy. Prior to, she was with Goldman Sachs in New York and London, as a member of their markets strategies team and was on their global macro trading desk. Monica has also been a portfolio manager of London-based Comac Capital&s USD6.5 billion (as of Dec.2011) Global Macro Fund. In this podcast she shares: - What about their global macro strategy is different and why it has delivered - Determining what is really moving markets - Origination of trade ideas and the ability to "right-size" their execution - Ethos embraced on portfolio risk management
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Radio Feature 136: Sona Blessing in conversation with James Waters

Thu, 04 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

As a Fixed Income Client Portfolio Manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments (which as of 31, December 2016 managed EUR 178.8 billion across all fixed income portfolios) James Waters is responsible for the client portfolio management function across all fixed income strategies and is head of the fixed income client portfolio management team. In this podcast he shares: - Their current outlook on fixed income investing is asymmetric - i.e. the upside is limited - In the context of corporate leverage - the US and Europe are moving in different directions - That euro spreads are no longer rich and that euro funding is no longer cheap - An active manager could add value in: Investment Grade Credit For e.g.: With a preference for late cycle defensive sectors and high quality credit - such as regulated utilities; being underweight the Eurozone (e.g. Italian banks), etc. High Yield For e.g. by maintaining a neutral to small underweight portfolio beta with generally defensive sector orientation, etc. Emerging Markets For e.g. by focusing on specific country improvements/turnaround stories; by disliking countries with greater current account deficits, etc. - From a spread blow-out perspective why they have a preference to hold higher quality - sovereigns, and emerging market credits, with a shorter duration.
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Radio Feature 135: Sona Blessing in conversation with David Vavra

Wed, 16 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000

David Vavra is a managing partner at OGResearch, a boutique forecasting and consulting firm, that specialises in monitoring and modelling, emerging and frontier market macroeconomic risks. In this Podcast he shares insights on, amongst others: - How they condition and adapt their models and forecasts based on observing and identifying stress factors and how these propagate through financial markets - Achieving model robustness by focusing on structural relationships as opposed to embracing a strictly statistical approach - The ability to differentiate between perceived and actual risk and how these forecasts can be used to navigate and determine investment opportunities
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Radio Feature 134: Sona Blessing in conversation with William (Bill) J. Kelly

Mon, 14 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000

William (Bill) J. Kelly is CEO of the CAIA Association. He is an acknowledged asset management industry veteran with extensive managerial and boardroom experience gained through successive CFO, COO, CEO and Independent Board director roles. In this podcast he talks us through: the challenges faced by investors as they navigate a complex asset allocation landscape, the quest for yield, coping with regulation, the relevance of fintech, and the increasing role and significance of education ...
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Radio Feature 133: Sona Blessing in conversation with Jan Brzeski and Greg Hebner

Wed, 12 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Arixa Capital&s principals, Jan Brzeski and Greg Hebner, specialise in private lending secured by real estate. Drawing from, and building on their past professional experience, they share how they set up an income-oriented, risk-controlled, capital preservation niche strategy across U.S. west coast real estate ... They also host educational webinar series for investors seeking new and better alternatives to mainstream investment options. Here are the details for the next one on Wednesday 19th October 2016. Sign up for it here.
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Radio Feature 132: Sona Blessing in conversation with Daisuke Ishida

Thu, 09 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Daisuke Ishida is general manager of the international investment department at Nippon Life Insurance Company. He is responsible for foreign sovereign bond investments and currency risk hedging. In this podcast, he shares their experiences and lessons learnt: - as an asset manager in navigating a deflationary landscape - how they addressed the negative spread challenge - they are coping with the longevity and demographic challenges facing Japan ...
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Radio Feature 131: Sona Blessing in conversation with William Landes

Thu, 19 May 2016 00:00:00 +0000

In this podcast, William (Bill) Landes, Deputy Head of Global Investment Solutions and Alternative Investments at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, shares his insights on alternative beta - how such a liquid strategy can be structured to optimise protection (cap/exploit downside risk) and capture upside performance; its place in a portfolio �
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Radio Feature 130: Sona Blessing in conversation with Keith Black

Thu, 24 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000

In this podcast, Keith Black, Managing Director, Curriculum and Exams at CAIA, shares his insights on the investment strategies of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs). According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI) - the largest have $7.08 trillion assets under management (best guess estimate, updated Feb. 2016). SWFs invested with asset manager withdrawals are expected to reach $400 billion in 2016. His slides that accompany this Podcast&s content can be downloaded here: www.caia.org/SWF_podcast
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Radio Feature 129: Sona Blessing in conversation with Daniel Wild

Fri, 05 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Featured in this podcast is Daniel Wild, Head of Sustainability Investing Research and Development, and a Member of RobecoSAMs Executive Committee. He elaborates on: - their methodology, which identifies sustainability information as an investment factor with a positive information ratio - recent launches: new investment solutions that specifically consider childrens rights and corporate gender equality - how their Impact Investing platform offers customised solutions to investors looking for investments that deliver financial returns and contribute by making a measurable positive social impact
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Radio Feature 128: Sona Blessing in conversation with William Dioguardi

Tue, 26 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

William Dioguardi is Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Four Springs Capital Trust*. In this podcast he shares his perspectives on: - Developments in the U.S. real estate market - recent market activity and expectations - Strategic opportunities aimed to deliver current income flows and capture capital growth - Mitigating risks associated with credit quality, defaults, fraud, a rising interest rate environment
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Radio Feature 127: Sona Blessing in conversation with Thomas Suter

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Thomas Suter, is CEO of Quaesta Capital AG an independent Swiss financial services provider that focuses primarily on currency and macro-management. The decade old firm manages USD3billion and amongst others runs v-Pro, a USD530million foreign-exchange options program that delivered a positive performance of 20.06% in 2015. In this podcast he shares, amongst others, how a customised foreign exchange exposure could be positioned to exploit market volatility, mitigate risk, deliver a positive performance and is liquid ...
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Radio Feature 126: Sona Blessing in conversation with Allen Sing

Mon, 09 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Allen Sing is Co-Head of Asia Investments and portfolio manager at SAIL Advisors. Their Asian Multi-Strategy, Multi-Manager Portfolio has a YTD performance of +7.23%as of 30.09.15) In this podcast, he draws on his experience garnered from former Asian crisis and elaborates on: - What makes this crisis different and lessons to be learnt - How Asian hedge funds have navigated the tumultuous macro environment in 2015 (click link to download slides) - The opportunities and risks that lie ahead for investors, particularly in China - Why they focus on capital preservation
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Radio Feature 125: Sona Blessing in conversation with Prof. Barry Eichengreen

Thu, 05 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Barry Eichengreen is Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He tells us what motivated him to write his most recent book Hall of Mirrors: The Great Depression, The Great Recession, and the Uses-and Misuses-of History. He also shares his insights on currency wars; why he expects to see continued relative strength in the USD; the challenges faced by emerging markets and their currencies; why the Fed has held-off with raising interest rates ...
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Radio Feature 124: Sona Blessing in conversation with Anne Velot

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Anne Velot is Head of the Active Euro Credit Team at AXA Investment Managers. She has 22 years of industry experience and joins us in this podcast, to share her outlook on investment opportunities across the european fixed income space. Based on the current global macro economic backdrop, she talks us through their strategic and tactical focus, and elaborates on how conceptually investing in the Euro Credit Total Return Strategy could serve as a "one-stop-shop" bond allocation solution.
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Radio Feature 123: Sona Blessing in conversation with Frederic Guibaud

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Frederic Guibaud, is Country Head Switzerland, Institutional Asset Management at Petercam. In this podcast he elaborates on how European REITs as an asset class has performed since the financial crisis of 2008. Its place in a portfolio, why now, geographically where and which sectors offer attractive investment opportunities, the impact of listed real estate being the 11th GICS� sector from August 2016 ...
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Radio Feature 122: Sona Blessing in conversation with Michael Shearer, Jim Webb

Thu, 20 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Michael Shearer and Jim Webb, are the Founding Partners, and Principals of Timberland Capital Advisors (TCA). Each has garnered 22 years experience in timberland investment organisations and have spent 38 years in forest management. TCA is an investment management firm, focused on locating and acquiring timberland assets which meet investors& specific needs. In this podcast, Michael talks us through where they see opportunities, expected positive performance outcomes and their ability to customise timberland investments ...
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Radio Feature 121: Sona Blessing in conversation with Stephan Meschenmoser

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Stephan Meschenmoser, is a Managing Director and a member of the Strategy and Market Views function of the Client Solutions group within BlackRock Solutions. In this podcast he shares insights on the role of liquidity; identifying and capturing illiquidity premia; monitoring structural, valuation, and asset class concentration risks. Why the search for yield is increasingly driving institutional investors to review allocations in less liquid real asset classes such as infrastructure ...
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Radio Feature 120: Sona Blessing in conversation with Christina Boeck

Thu, 25 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000

In this podcast, Christina Boeck, Chief Investment Officer at AXA Investment Managers - Switzerland, elaborates on the global macro economic backdrop; talks us through the three outcomes for Greece and its potential market implications; shares insights on asset allocation opportunities ...
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Radio Feature 119: Sona Blessing in conversation with Martin Roth

Wed, 10 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Martin Roth is Managing Director of the Swiss based Pensionskasse Manor, where amongst others; he is responsible for alternative and real estate investments. Martin has 20 years of experience in asset management - prior to joining Manor in 2004 as Head of Asset Management, he was a senior portfolio manager at UBS, responsible for special clients and family offices. In this podcast he talks us through why they considered infrastructure as an asset class, navigating the opportunity set, the challenges, choices and expected returns ...
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