Asset Allocation
2021 Capital Market Assumptions for Major Asset Classes
Q1 2021
We update our estimates of medium-term (5- to 10-year) expected returns for major asset classes. We also discuss what investors should expect from the stock-bond correlation in the coming decade.
Macroeconomics
Fire and Ice: Confronting the Twin Perils of Inflation and Deflation
Q4 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic and the responses to it by governments, central banks and consumers have unleashed both disinflationary and inflationary forces, but we do not know which forces will win over the longer term. We explore the historical inflation sensitivities of a range of different investments and present the benefits of both risk-balanced asset allocations and dynamic directional strategies to prepare for uncertain times.
Portfolio Risk and Performance
Was That Intentional? Ways to Improve Your Active Risk
September 28, 2020
Investors try to outperform their strategic asset allocation benchmarks by taking active risks. Some of these are intentional, but others are low-conviction or even unintentional, which can be a large part of a portfolio’s total active risk. When it comes to beating a strategic asset allocation benchmark, reducing these unintentional active risks may among the clearest sources of “low hanging fruit”.
Asset Allocation
2020 Capital Market Assumptions for Major Asset Classes (Supplemental Estimates as of March 31, 2020)
May 6, 2020
This supplement provides a special update to our estimates of medium-term (5- to 10-year) expected returns for major asset classes. This update reflects the large changes in prices for many asset classes due to the impact of COVID-19 in Q1 2020.
Asset Allocation
2020 Capital Market Assumptions for Major Asset Classes
January 29, 2020
We update our estimates of medium-term (5- to 10-year) expected returns for major asset classes, and introduce a method for quantifying the expected return on cash.
ESG Investing
Responsible Asset Selection: ESG in Portfolio Decisions
December 3, 2019
We discuss how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations may be incorporated in a portfolio and how they may affect risk and return outcomes.
Fixed Income
Inversion Anxiety: Yield Curves, Economic Growth, and Asset Prices
September 12, 2019
We evaluate the ability of the yield curve slope to forecast future economic conditions, as well as returns on stocks and bonds, using over 50 years of data across six countries.
Asset Allocation
2019 Capital Market Assumptions for Major Asset Classes
February 4, 2019
We update our estimates of medium-term (5- to 10-year) expected returns for major asset classes, including private equity and private real estate.
Fixed Income
The Illusion of Active Fixed Income Alpha
December 17, 2018
Do fixed income (FI) managers generate alpha? We take a deep dive into the determinants of excess of benchmark returns for a broad set of popular active FI categories.
Asset Allocation
It Was the Worst of Times: Diversification During a Century of Drawdowns
September 26, 2018
We use nearly 100 years of data to evaluate the effectiveness of diversifying investments during the worst of times for most portfolios and find that attempting to tactically avoid equity sell-offs is likely to disappoint.