Short of time? Here's another Journal paper you shouldn't miss. It examines key infrastructure investment considerations, the risks of investing in infrastructure, valuations, and infrastructure's place and role in a targeted return portfolio...

The global equity benchmark excludes many opportunities as the industrial advantage shifts to the so-called emerging economies. This paper challenges the conventional belief that history is the best guide to determine the optimal composition of the international equities component of a portfolio. It examines why it makes sense to structure an investment portfolio that emphasises global themes and relationships, as opposed to geographic regions. It looks at how a thematic approach to investing identifies the major secular, cyclical and structural influences on the world’s stock markets, and how consistency, risk control and diversification are managed.

Has the role of traditional fixed interest managers changed? This paper explores why it remains critical to have fixed interest in portfolios, both as a tool to lock in income and also as a defensive play. It asks "How do fixed interest managers keep pace with investor demand for greater returns, in a world where spreads are tight even in what are considered more risky securities?" Finally, it argues that with the prospect of rising inflation, declining GDP and a new Fed Chairman throwing uncertainty into the mix, perhaps locking in CPI + 4% isn’t a bad thing!

The 5th Annual PortfolioConstruction Conference featured a core, independent 13-hour plenary program over the two days, designed by the PortfolioConstruction Forum's specialist, experienced and independent team. As always, we selected our plenary speakers based solely on their portfolio expertise (not the size of their wallets! None of our plenary speakers paid to speak)...

Following on from the successful offerings of Nexus 1, 2 and 3 by Deutsche Bank, Nexus 4 - the first foray into a managed CDO by Nexus - has recently announced that it has suffered an event of default in its income portfolio...

A recent study out of the US takes a shot at what you may believe about dollar cost averaging, one of the sacred cows of investment…

Emerging markets have been out of favour with mainstream investors since the series of financial shocks in the late 1990s that culminated with the default by Russia on its sovereign bonds in 1997. So what has changed since then, to bring emerging market debt back into favour (with a number of new products being released that provide exposure to emerging market debt)?

How would a global bird flu pandemic affect financial markets? If past history, including the effect of SARS in 2003 is anything to go by, the effect would be significant...

As we took the Global Energy and Commodities Investing Forum around the country, one of the hot discussion points was total return investing and portfolio construction...

In each You Asked For It, we ask the public research houses to respond to topical portfolio construction questions of the day. This fortnight, it’s hedge funds. Are they an asset class? Should they be classified as growth investments, defensive, both or neither? Seven research houses responded…

At this week’s PortfolioConstruction Conference, HFA Chief Investment Strategist Jonathan Pain will present a compelling review of the prospects for world equity markets – in fact, he'll present twice, firstly the case for a global equities bull market, and then the contrasting case for a global equities bear market…

A common question from the many advisers who implement direct equities through model equity portfolios is how to justify putting a client into the underlying shares which may have risen steeply since the inception of the portfolio, or since its last rebalance…

Thank you for your kind comments, at the International Monetary Conference in Beijing recently, regarding the state of the investment industry and the benefits of investing in skilled managers who actively seek absolute returns through a combination of diversified strategies. I particularly appreciated your comments as follows…

What is an ETF, what are the key performance and cost differentiators compared to actively managed equity funds, and how can they be integrated into a portfolio?

In a core and satellite approach to portfolio construction, some of the benefits of including low cost, index-tracking products such as exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the “core” of a portfolio...

It may be time for investors to consider rebuilding investor exposure to Asian stock markets but they will need to make use of Asia-specific equity products to obtain the desired exposure, says Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital Investors…

Australian superannuation funds allocate more to private equity than their European counterparts, and are poised to increase their offshore private equity investment…

Distressed debt is one asset type beloved of hedge funds. There are four distinct types of distressed debt, and each carries unique risks and rewards, says Mercer Investment Consulting, warning that this event-driven style is not as homogenous as the definition indicates…

With unlisted private equity companies comprising such a major part of the economy, it makes sense that they should form part of an investment portfolio as well...

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has unveiled a significant shift in its strategic asset allocation and plans to significantly increase its allocation to alternative assets…