The world runs on energy. Unfortunately for the future of the climate, the current energy system relies heavily on fossil fuels—the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions. Enabled by emerging technologies and rapidly declining costs, the transition from traditional fossil-based
Danish versus Dutch mortgage investments: How do they compare? Many institutional investors have been attracted in recent years by the potential for high yields on mortgage investments. Exposure to the mortgage market can be achieved in various ways. An interesting
Afgelopen zomer hebben het kabinet en sociale partners overeenstemming bereikt over een vergaande herziening van het pensioenstelsel. Dit pensioenakkoord heeft grote gevolgen voor hoe pensioen wordt opgebouwd en wordt belegd. In deze serie bespreken we het pensioenakkoord en de gevolgen voor het beleggingsbeleid.
The economy remains on pause in many parts of the world, but the vaccine rollout is improving the prospect of normalization and supports a positive medium-term outlook. In the meantime, global economies remain heavily supported …
We have sold Tesla from our Global Sustainable Equity portfolios, having held the shares since early 2019. This sale follows a downgrade in our internal sustainability ranking.
In deze dekkingsgraadscan vindt u meer informatie over de dekkingsgraad van een gemiddeld Nederlands pensioenfonds. We geven een overzicht van de ontwikkeling van de feitelijke en (12-maands) voortschrijdend gemiddelde dekkingsgraad in …
In its meeting last week, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced several changes in its monetary policy framework, but also confirmed its policy to keep yields under control. While other government bond markets have seen quite some volatility in the …
When Covid-19 hit, many producers cut back production and drew down inventories as demand collapsed and the economic outlook was highly uncertain. While demand from cyclical end markets was hit hard, other end markets like …
Apartments, along with industrial, are the preferred sectors in 2021 for investors in US property, according to the Pension Real Estate Association, Investment Intentions Survey.1 The case for apartments is welldocumented and well-supported by data from a variety of sources. In the US, apartments have offered investment returns …
Italian bonds are in a sweet spot in the market at the moment, but what is contributing to their newfound appeal and will it last? We think there are a couple of reasons why Italian bonds are appealing, but the sparkle may tarnish in a few years’ time.
In deze dekkingsgraadscan vindt u meer informatie over de dekkingsgraad van een gemiddeld Nederlands pensioenfonds. We geven een overzicht van de ontwikkeling van de feitelijke en (12-maands) voortschrijdend gemiddelde dekkingsgraad in het …
The economy remains on pause in many parts of the world, but the vaccine rollout improves the odds of normalization and supports a positive medium-term outlook. In the meantime, global economies remain supported by the large stimulus measures from …
The global economy runs on energy and, by and large, energy still requires greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency can reduce demand; renewables are driving down the cost of carbonfree energy and can be coupled with storage or …
Year-end data shows that 2020 turned out much better for US commercial real estate (CRE) than many had hoped, with the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF) benchmark index delivering a positive albeit low 1.6% total return with the 4.2% income return more than offsetting a negative 2.5% capital depreciation.1 We believe this outcome can be …
Ratings agencies are missing crucial aspects of ESG analysis and taking a top-down approach that leads to perverse outcomes such as tobacco companies scoring highly on ESG factors, says Aegon Asset Management. Euan Ker, Sustainable Investment Analyst at Aegon AM, believes ratings agencies employ …
The interest rate shock in the US is continuing, with 10-year government bonds now yielding around 1.6%, up with more than 60 bps since the start of the year. The confirmation of the 1.9 trillion USD stimulus bill by the US Senate this past weekend will support the trend of higher yields. Up until now, equity indices have largely shrugged off this sharp move in rates, but their overall performance hides a …
In this latest edition of the Multi Asset Conversations, the team share their thoughts on key currencies and the positive impact the vaccine roll-out has had on the EUR, GBP and USD. They also discuss their views about Emerging Markets, a highly disparate universe where markets need to be treated on their individual merits.
For investors, the recent decline in retail property performance might suggest opportunity for acquiring property at distressed pricing. The challenge for such investors is to identify discounts associated with the Covid-19-induced recession versus discounts associated with the structural distress in
In deze dekkingsgraadscan vindt u meer informatie over de dekkingsgraad van een gemiddeld Nederlands pensioenfonds. We geven een overzicht van de ontwikkeling van de feitelijke en (12-maands) voortschrijdend gemiddelde dekkingsgraad in het afgelopen jaar. Daarnaast maken …
The shift towards a more sustainable global economy continues to accelerate. At Aegon AM, we believe this secular shift will continue to present opportunities for investors. Entire industries and sectors are evolving as consumers and investors alike demand sustainable solutions, and governments around the world enact regulations to drive sustainability. From …
Winter hit with a vengeance in Texas during the week of February 15 significantly impacting electricity production in the state. Extreme cold temperatures in the region affected the entire electric grid leading to massive rolling blackouts. Customers suffered as blackouts persisted, pipes began to burst in homes and power costs spiked for those who could get it and had variable contracts.
Policymakers globally are increasingly supportive of the climate transition. Europe recently announced its ambitious plan to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030, in line with its plan for climate neutrality by 2050. China has committed to carbon neutrality by 2060, Japan and South Korea by 2050. More than 50% of global GDP is …
Deze zomer hebben het kabinet en sociale partners overeenstemming bereikt over een vergaande herziening van het pensioenstelsel. Dit pensioenakkoord heeft grote gevolgen voor hoe pensioen wordt opgebouwd en wordt belegd. In deze serie bespreken we het pensioenakkoord en de gevolgen voor het beleggingsbeleid.
China has played a very important role – if not the most important role – in the global economy since 2000. Economic reforms and strong growth of the Chinese economy resulted in a global shift of the economic power balance. During most of the 20th century China’s share of the global economy was …
One of the pushbacks that investors in fixed income funds often make is: “Can bondholders really influence companies on sustainable issues in the way equity holders can?” It’s a fair question – after all, we provide companies with capital but we don’t own any equity, nor do we have any voting rights. However, to dismiss fixed income investors as mere bystanders would be …
What are the key tools for sustainable investing in fixed income? In a recent episode of Refinitiv’s Sustainability Perspectives Podcast, James Rich, senior portfolio manager, outlined different ways to think about investing sustainably in fixed income. Beyond green bonds, learn about the sustainable megatrends and methods for identifying investable themes.
The US inflation numbers published this week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics were slightly below consensus at 1.4% for annual headline inflation, basically unchanged from last month. Quite a contrast compared to the latest German and EU inflation numbers, which were …
The economic rebound slowed in the fourth quarter, after a strong rebound in the third quarter and a very sharp contraction in the first half of the year. Global economies remain supported by the large stimulus measures from fiscal and monetary institutions. The positive vaccine …
A paler shade of green If only sustainable investing was just about right and wrong; sustainable and unsustainable. Alas, it’s not so simple. Clearly, there are sustainable ‘bad boys’ such as coal companies and weapons manufacturers which sustainable funds do
Demand for sustainable investment solutions continues to grow. The longterm consequences of short-term decisions are becoming clearer for the broad society. From consumers and businesses to governments and investors, we believe a broad secular shift toward sustainability is underway. The concept of responsible investments (RI) is strengthening every year as investors …
The retail and hotel property sectors are bearing the brunt of the Covid disruption: weaker businesses are shuttering, vacancy rates are surging, rent collections are shrinking, property values are dropping, and commercial mortgage delinquencies are rising. Investors in these sectors are struggling to find a …
In deze dekkingsgraadscan vindt u meer informatie over de dekkingsgraad van een gemiddeld Nederlands pensioenfonds. We geven een overzicht van de ontwikkeling van de feitelijke en (12-maands) voortschrijdend gemiddelde dekkingsgraad in het afgelopen jaar. Daarnaast maken we op basis van de laatste marktontwikkelingen een projectie van de actuele dekkingsgraad. Ook wordt een gedetailleerd overzicht gegeven van het effect van marktbewegingen in de afgelopen maand.
Multi-Asset Conversations – Episode 2 In the second short video in the series Colin Dryburgh discusses the opportunities for growth assets in 2021 and Robert-Jan van der Mark looks at sustainability and how we are seeing opportunities in that area.
Preserving favorable financing conditions Column by Hendrik Tuch The ECB meeting last week was supposed to be rather uneventful, with the key decision already made in the December meeting to increase its PEPP buying program with 500 billion and extend
Investors with future liabilities are normally exposed to interest rate risk. A fall in interest rates will increase the value placed on future liabilities. By adopting a liability-driven investment (LDI) strategy, much of this interest rate risk can be mitigated. In this deep dive series we will investigate the most important considerations for developing successful …
For many years nominal interest rates, largely from developed markets, served the dual purpose of providing stable income and diversification benefits in many multi asset portfolios. Yet with yields on these assets testing the zero boundary, the allure to owning them looks increasingly tarnished. A small move in price can wipe out your income for the year.
In the first of the series Vincent McEntegart gives his thoughts on the broad market expectations for 2021 and Debbie King presents a short case study on how we use bank equity and bank credit in our income strategies to deliver income plus a strong risk-adjusted return.
In September 2020 we published our long-term outlook (link). At that time we anticipated that the economic recovery in the eurozone would start in the second half of 2020 and that the rebound would continue into 2021. Unfortunately, after a strong economic recovery in the third quarter, many eurozone countries imposed new lockdown …
The other virus Column by Hendrik Tuch While Covid-19 continues to grab headlines, we should not disregard the economic effect of another virus which is steadily spreading across the globe. The African swine fever virus does not affect humans but
DNB starts implementation of new UFR curve January 2021 As announced last year, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the regulator for Dutch pension funds, will start publishing interest rate curves with an adjusted methodology at the end of this month. Over
Stronger headwinds in the short run, but the medium-term outlook improves on vaccine rollout House View The global economy rebounded strongly in the third quarter, after a very sharp contraction in the first half of the year. Global economies remain
Financial markets got their vaccine in 2020, now it’s our turn Column by Hendrik Tuch Despite the strong increase in coronavirus cases, equity markets continued their march upward in the last few weeks of the year. Investors continue to have
The 2020 review of Solvency II EIOPA’s opinion The Solvency II Directive (2009/138/EC) was adopted in November 2009, and amended by Directive 2014/51/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 (the so-called “Omnibus II Directive”).1
Credit markets weathered a turbulent year in 2020 as the Covid-19 outbreak resulted in economic shutdowns, plummeting growth and volatile markets. Against this backdrop, fundamentals deteriorated, downgrades skyrocketed and default activity increased. After one of the quickest bear markets in
The National Mortgage Guarantee (NHG) has been a well-known mortgage type in the Netherlands for many years. The Stichting Waarborgfonds Eigen Woningen (WEW), which is 100% guaranteed by the Dutch government, hereby provides a guarantee to the lender. This guarantee
Deze zomer hebben het kabinet en sociale partners overeenstemming bereikt over een vergaande herziening van het pensioenstelsel. Dit pensioenakkoord heeft grote gevolgen voor hoe pensioen wordt opgebouwd en wordt belegd. In deze serie bespreken we het pensioenakkoord en de gevolgen
2020 will been known as the year of the coronavirus as the impact was far reaching and felt by every country in the world. Emerging markets were not immune, but 2020 marked a turning point for emerging markets debt markets
2020 was an unprecedented year as the coronavirus crisis rattled markets and upended industries. Despite the volatility and economic weakness, investor demand for ESG-focused products continued to accelerate. Further, the downturn served as an opportunity for many investors to put
For distressed investors operating in a relatively benign low-rate, low-default environment over the past decade, the opportunity set in the aftermath of the spring-time market sell-off was immediate and compelling. Plenty of dry powder was put to work and incrementally
Big Picture Update A global pandemic, recession, and regime change in the US are some of the issues facing commercial real estate (CRE) investors. These headwinds have already presented investors with unique challenges that have impacted property performance with a
