Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.
If managing the pension savings of thousands of ordinary people who will one day depend on those savings for their retirement sounds like a serious business, that’s because it is.
Multi-billion-dollar portfolios look complex and challenging, and in some ways they are. The real complexity and challenge is managing people.
As this selection of articles and books generated over the course of 30 years in Investment Land illustrate, Benjamin Franklin’s adage, that its not about returns, but about risk, is as true as it ever was.
Take care of the risks and the returns will take care of themselves.
Why choose Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing? – Part 2
November, 2021
In our previous blog, we found that ESG investing is an increasing focus which is becoming embedded into investor requirements. In this second part of our ESG blog, we look at how ESG factors and funds are selected. We find it not as straightforward as it may seem.
Why choose Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing? – Part 1
September, 2021
In the first in our series on ESG investing, Bev Durston & Frances Cowell ask whether this is a sustainable shift in investment practice and priorities that can’t be ignored or a marketing exercise that can.
Hedge Funds – a risk manager’s viewpoint
May, 2010
Hedge fund regulations, if well thought-out, can improve the information available to investors while poorly contrived regulations merely increase costs and raise barriers to entry for potentially innovative products. They can also impose a drag on performance by reducing the manager’s scope to achieve the best Information Ratio and actually increase risk by giving a false sense of security. Its about posing the right questions.
Good risk culture and how to recognise it: Global leaders share some tips
October, 2010
Risk culture has never been more important to fulfilling financial organisations’ primary role of supporting the steady economic growth needed to serve future generations. But how do you know good risk culture when you see it? We ask ten of the world’s leading experts what they think the most important signals are. Its not always what you might think.
December, 2015
Diversity of buyers and sellers and of long- and short-term investors is a necessary condition for a successful market economy. Yet, some aspects of Basel III may threaten it, which will affect all market participants, whether regulated or not.
Are We Wasting a Good Crisis? Leading Risk Managers Give Their Views
November, 2015
It’s a fair question, and many investors, taxpayers and financial professionals are asking whether regulations conceived in the quest for post-GFC reform really will help make the global financial system more stable. Some even wonder whether some, poorly thought-through regulation may actually make it more fragile.
Can you regulate risk culture?
September, 2015
Revelations of market rigging, mis-selling, flaunting of anti-money-laundering laws, evident disregard for risk in the quest for revenue growth has prompted concern about the risk culture. Recognising this, regulators and supervisors have sought to promote “good” risk culture, for example, by demanding that directors take direct responsibility. In a new book, Frances Cowell and Matthew Levins[1], question how realistic this and other regulatory initiatives are.
