With vaccines having been rolled out to combat the global pandemic in late-December, perhaps unsurprisingly, two wealthy, small nations – Israel and the UAE – are among the global leaders in deploying them to their domestic populations.
The 2016 Paris Agreement is at a critical juncture for at least two reasons. First, it recently celebrated its five-year anniversary. It is far too early to analyse the Agreement’s “achievements”, but that will not stop critics from trying. This scrutiny should be welcomed by those whose fear that not enough attention is being paid to rising temperatures’ grave threat to mankind. After all, 2020 was the second-hottest …
UBP Frontier Debt 2020 review and 2021 outlook 2020 confirmed the volatility of Frontier Debt, but also its resilience and mean reverting nature Belief in the longer-term merits of the asset class gave UBP the confidence to launch our fund,
The distinguishing features of impact investing White Paper The growing market According to the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), the impact market, which doubled in size in 2018, continued its solid growth in 2020, reaching USD 715 billion. This stunning
Social & Affordable Housing White paper This white paper summarises the social and affordable housing (“S&AH”) sector in the United Kingdom and Ireland. There are similarities in the provision of S&AH in each country and in each there is a
White Paper As in previous crises, the safe-haven status of the Swiss franc and an inflation rate of only 0.2% (as of the end of 2019) have helped Switzerland weather the storm in the past few months. The country has
Corporate bond defaults were once considered a rare occurrence in China. This is because borrowers have historically relied heavily on financial support from stateowned banks in times of trouble. However, things have started to change in the world’s second largest
Monthly Investment Outlook – December Key points Downside risks weigh on Q4 growth in several countries due to rising contagion and pressure on hospitals; European activity should contract in Q4, and a parallel slowdown is expected in the US, while
Monthly Investment Outlook – December Key points Downside risks weigh on Q4 growth in several countries due to rising contagion and pressure on hospitals; European activity should contract in Q4, and a parallel slowdown is expected in the US, while
White Paper: European Small Caps – Rising Stars The big story in 2020 has been the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the global economy, government finances and corporate earnings, leading to heightened levels of equity market volatility. Smaller companies
Investment Outlook 2021 According to our scenario, all countries should see renewed growth in 2021. Economies have seen a gradual upturn since summer 2020, although the resurgence of Covid-19 cases and new local restrictions are hampering the recovery at the
UBAM – Hybrid Bond Opportunity in European Banks AT1 bonds Key takeaways: Fundamentally, European banks are solid with strong capital ratios and should exit the Covid-19 crisis unscathed The macro picture continues to improve, assisted by significant central bank support
Global & Absolute Return Fixed Income For Professional Investors in Switzerland or Professional Investors as defined by the relevant laws Key takeaways: ■ The outcome of the US elections has reduced hopes of a large fiscal package being passed next
On track since launch: U Access – Long/Short Japan Corporate Governance Key takeaways: U Access – Long/Short Japan Corporate Governance maintained its gross and net exposure in line with the investment philosophy. We can report a constant increase of Assets
Flash update: UBAM – EM Sustainable Corporate Bond Podcast Key takeaways Demand for responsible investment is on the rise and pushed AUMs in UBAM – EM Sustainable Corporate Bond fund above USD 100 mln The fund outperforms YTD, thanks notably
The fintech industry offers a growing and diversified investment universe with more than USD 2 tn market cap depth. Around 180 companies specialising in global payments, financial IT infrastructure, networks & security, data and analytics, insurtech and regtech as well
UBAM – Global Fintech Equity We are pleased to announce the launch of the new fund UBAM – Global Fintech Equity under the Swiss & Global Equity franchise, which now holds 4bn USD in AUM. Why invest in Fintech? Podcast
Spotlight In early-September, the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced a shift in the inflation containment policy regime that had been in place since the 1970s. Recall how, facing rapidly rising and eventually double-digit inflation, then Fed Chair Paul
Flash update: Why does liquidity matter? Podcast Key takeaways: A rapid drying off of liquidity has become a corollary to financial market shocks. However, when the shock materialises, it is too late to worry about liquidity. As it happens, a
Flash Update Liquidity took a central stage during the Covid-19 sell-off. As such, Covid-19 should serve as a wake-up call for investors with regard to the role of liquidity in portfolios. At UBP Global & Absolute Return Fixed Income team,
The current challenging market environment suggests a greater need than ever for alternatives. Hedge funds, which target differentiated, positive absolute returns, provide clear potential benefits. However, institutional investors have …
White Paper In dat verslag worden 200 landen gerangschikt op basis van een COVID-19- gerelateerde veiligheids- en risicoanalyse die steunt op een hele reeks datapunten. Zwitserland kreeg de hoogste algemene score voor zijn doeltreffende maatregelen om de verspreiding van het
Impact Investing In terms of asset class, impact investing has traditionally been associated with private capital. Public equities make up just 17% of the USD 502 billion in assets managed in impact strategies1 , a negligible amount compared with the
White Paper Solid fundamentals for European systemic banks when entering the crisis Covid-19 is not 2008 Global Financial Crisis. European banks entered the Covid-19 crisis with solid capital positions and higher capital ratios than in 2008 courtesy of the new banking …
White Paper The resilience of the Swiss economy has once again been proven during the Covid-19 pandemic and is reflected by the Swiss equity market’s outperformance year to date. Several Swiss companies across all market cap segments have benefited from
Betting markets have seen a dramatic narrowing in the re-election prospects for US President Donald Trump following the onset of the US phase of the global Coronavirus crisis leaving them pricing …
Frontier debt markets: a growth story After significant growth over the last decade, we believe that it is time for global investors to start considering EM frontier debt as a stand-alone investment opportunity. All of the traditional arguments for allocating
For the first time ever the Fed will be aggressively buying corporate bonds This significantly reduces the main market risks, such as: Liquidity risk Risk of funds’ closures Refinancing risk Fallen angel risk And it is ready to do more.
Frontier debt markets: a growth story After significant growth over the last decade, we believe that it is time for global investors to start considering EM frontier debt as a stand-alone investment opportunity. All of the traditional arguments for allocating
Spotlight While the humanitarian crisis continues unabated in many regions of the world, April should begin to see some respite in terms of infections starting first in Italy and hopefully continuing into other areas of continental Europe as well. As
With the US and broader European economies entering the ‘acceleration’ phase of their respective COVID-19 infection cycles, fiscal policymakers across Europe and the United States have begun outlining plans to bear down on this growing shock to demand and confidence.
Key points With the US and broader European economies entering the ‘acceleration’ phase of their respective COVID-19 infection cycles, fiscal policymakers across Europe and the United States have begun outlining plans to bear down on this growing shock to demand
The 2002-2003 SARS outbreak framework that most, including ourselves, were drawing upon to anticipate the trajectory of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak requires an adjustment following the failure of authorities to contain the contagion to the Asian continent. While an extended
Focus on Risk Management Global economy / Asset allocation Moderate growth is expected in 2020, underpinned by a stabilisation in the main regions. Industrial activity and investment should progressively recover. We anticipate economic policy continuing to offer proactive support as
Monthly investment outlook Global equities pressed higher in December with risk free yields rising while credit spreads compressed as liquidity growth accelerated into year end. With the Fed recognising that it had not eased the USD liquidity backdrop meaningfully since September’
It is too early for either China or the United States to claim victory following the ‘Phase 1’ agreement announced last week. The ongoing 5G debate in Germany may hold the key for the US credibly to claim victory towards
Dear Reader, Following the shock caused by near-20% declines during the fourth quarter of 2018, global equity markets rebounded strongly in early 2019 as the US Federal Reserve brought its rate hikes to an end in the first quarter before
Year-to-date, Swiss and Global equity funds continue to deliver strong absolute and relative performances, ranking in the top quartile versus their peer groups. Despite short-lived sector/style rotations into oversold value names, the ytd performance of the MSCI AC World reached
Year-to-date, Swiss and Global equity funds continue to deliver strong absolute and relative performances, ranking in the top quartile versus their peer groups. Despite short-lived sector/style rotations into oversold value names, the ytd performance of the MSCI AC World reached
October 2019 US and ECB communications revealed divided opinions on the prospect for more aggressive stimulus looking ahead despite stress in US money markets. As a result, investors may face a ‘gap’ between limited monetary policy support and emerging fiscal
Staying Engaged in Markets but actively Managing Risks Equities, bonds, AND gold all moved higher in October highlighting the challenge facing investors in markets. The easing in tensions across both the US-China trade war and UK-EU Brexit negotiations has helped
The ECB has been missing on its inflation target for 10 years The ECB never got to the “tightening window” In 2013, cash was yielding zero, now it is the EUR Aggregate market… …however, the EUR Aggregate market bears some
In the current low yield environment, Danish mortgage bonds are a very attractive alternative for EUR, USD and JPY fixed income investors, given that Danish mortgage bonds offer a relatively high expected return and a very low credit risk. Denmark
Why thematic investing? Traditional approaches to investing are constantly challenged by leading companies which are by nature innovative and, for most of them, multisectoral. Disruptors can be found in any sector or industry, making the traditional industry classification framework less
As expected, US and ECB communications disappointed markets and the ongoing US-China conflict flared once again in August leading to the return of volatility. Long-dated bond yields and equities fell sharply over the month. Pressure on the global economic outlook
Uncertainty in Argentine markets has increased following the government’s announcement (28 August 2019) to engage with foreign investors over a voluntary re-profiling of a portion of their eurobonds and with local investors to extend their peso/local debt*. These measures are
Current Strategy | August 2019 We see a range trading environment for EM, supported by Fed monetary easing and likely easing by other major developed and EM central banks. This should offset President Trump’s latest threat to impose new tariffs
Our views for the coming months After a strong start of the year, with EM sovereign bonds up 7.6%, EM corporate bonds up 6.8% and EM local bonds up 3.0% in USD terms, we expect carry to be the primary
Absolute Return Low Vol Fixed Income Longer-lasting low interest rates, challenging liquidity conditions and abundant political risks demand for adapted solutions within the defensive fixed-income space Demographic trends in Europe are constraining growth prospects and the outlook for significantly higher
Don’t fight the Fed The 2019 rally in global equities continued in February as signs of an impending resolution to the US-China trade war emerged and the US Federal Reserve continued its shift begun in January to more overtly dovish
