Market Structure Minute

Up and to the Right...Right?

Lest we forget – 2020 is also an election year. So we went back and looked at market performance in election years dating back to 1980. While some of these trends are debatable, depending on the period of time you explore, a few things stood out.

Market Structure Minute

The Icarus Rally

The S&P closed the week at 2836 – a level last hit in June 2019. It is up more than 20% off the March lows. But a few small things are different between June of last year and today.

ESG: The Great Divorce

Is It Time for ‘E,’ ‘S’ and ‘G' to Part Ways?

ESG has hit an official turning point, with flows starting to match interest and performance in line (and in some cases – outperforming) broader indices. The Great Divorce explores why sustainable investing will help define the next decade, whether it’s inevitable that 'E,' 'S,' & 'G' part ways, and why carbon and climate adjacent issues could rise to the fore for investors in the years ahead.

The State of Our Union 2020

What could lie ahead in the next decade? As we head into 2020, we reflect on the market of the last decade, and wonder what could temper this run– a recession, correction or crash? We also explore why a shrinking pool of publicly traded companies may have impacted investors’ focus on the private market – and what implications that could have for product development. And finally, the future of content…Your administrator has a podcast, do you?

Don’t Call it a Comeback

The Evolution and Enduring Relevance of Funds of Funds

Don't Call It a Comeback explores the enduring important of alternatives funds of funds. A new Jefferies study shows that negative headlines get it wrong—funds of funds play a critical role in supporting early stage managers, allocating nearly 80% of early stage capital along with family offices. This paper outlines the critical role FoFs play in the alternatives ecosystem by providing relatively sticky capital to early stage launches.

Spotlight on Operational Due Diligence

This piece covers what’s top of mind for the ODD community heading into 2020. Allocators are devoting time to look into managers' strategies around ESG, outsourcing, human capital considerations, compliance, and product diversification.

ESG: When a Trend Becomes the Norm

E is for 'Emissions?'

This whitepaper explains why environmental issues are among the most quantifiable in the ESG space, how mutliple trends are converging to facilitate exponential ESG growth, and what lies ahead for the transition to a lower carbon world. This is part of an ongoing series, "The Road to 2030," that explores areas where we expected to see unparalleled growth, innovation, and dynamism over the next decade.

When the Market Moves the Market

Fixed Income Edition

When the Market Moves the Market: Fixed Income Edition is the second paper in a series on market structure. In this piece we answer 3 questions that are top-of-mind for investors across the board: 1) What do I need to know about changes in Fixed Income market structure?, 2) What are the biggest shifts in the last decade?, and 3) What does this mean for what lies ahead?

The Road to 2030

 A Decade Defined by Data

This piece reflects on what investors, allocators, data buyers and data vendors are focused on to prepare them for the coming decade. We explore why the old and new "consensus" are different, why the best data is increasingly "boring" data, why identifying the right combination of data is more important than the right set of data, how data is redefining how investors channel check entire supply chains, and why privacy, policy, and regulation matter now.

When the Market Moves the Market

Equities Edition

This publication examines the changes - some obvious, others more subtle - to the structure of the equity market over the past 10 years. It explores how much has changed across the who, where, why, what and how – and what some of the implications of these shifts have been.

Construction Zone

Asset Allocation for the Next Decade

This publication explores why a diverse and sophisticated group of allocators are collectively aiming their scalpels at their portfolios and rethinking the most foundational part of their jobs: portfolio construction and strategic asset allocation.

Reinventing Value

An Advanced ESG Primer

After years of interest in the sustainability space, 2018 was an inflection year for exponential ESG asset growth. ESG managed assets in the U.S. are more than $11 trillion, and globally account for 1 in 4 invested dollars. Why? Read Reinventing ‘Value’: An Advanced ESG Primer for insight to the driving forces behind this explosive growth.