While Europe’s private asset-backed finance markets have been growing in importance for a number of years, it's only in recent years where we've seen the regulatory pressures that banks are facing come to the fore, fuelling a strong desire to shrink balance sheets and increase capital. This has created a wealth of opportunities, with a significant number of transactions coming to market almost every week. Listen to this episode of The Investment Podcast to find out more about why we think the...

As billions of people vote in national elections in 2024, including seven of the world’s 10 most populous nations, our panel of cross asset class experts looks at the issues and potential unique and overlapping implications at play across developed and emerging markets – from the US and UK to South Africa and Mexico. They also analyse what asset allocators are watching, including the influence of outcomes on fiscal, monetary and climate policy, the impact on asset prices and potential...

History offers useful lessons, as a plethora of adages often remind us. In the first episode of 2024, Jose Pellicer Global Head of Investment Strategy and Richard Gwilliam, Head of Research at M&G Real Estate, kick off the new year with a brief look at real estate throughout recent history – from a world of high inflation and interest rates in the 1980s to rock bottom interest rates Post-GFC – and what differentiates the 2020s from previous decades. With that said, the current environment...

M&G’s CIOs Jim Leaviss and Fabiana Fedeli share their perspectives for 2024, considering how to potentially drive returns through the uncertainty ahead, and highlighting the importance of being selective in a challenging economic environment.   Speakers: Fabiana Fedeli, Chief Investment Officer, Equities, Multi-Asset and Sustainability Jim Leaviss, Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income   Host: David Parsons, Head of Public Debt Investment Specialists   For Investment Professionals only....

Just over a year has passed since the gilt market turmoil of September 2022, sparked by the UK government’s so-called ‘mini-budget’. The fallout from the crisis, as the pound fell and gilt yields spiked, prompted an emergency intervention by the Bank of England to restore orderly market conditions against a global backdrop of high inflation and rising interest rates. A significant change in asset class demand dynamics ensued as pension funds sought to meet collateral calls for their LDI...

Risk assets have repriced over the past year due to financial-market volatility and higher-than-usual levels of uncertainty surrounding issues such as terminal rates, inflation, geopolitics and economic growth. Consequently, we believe private credit currently offers unusually high potential returns while retaining its traditional defensive characteristics of low duration and security.   However, selecting a manager who has experienced periods of higher default rates, who implements...

The Significant Risk Transfer (SRT) market currently offers a compelling alternative to traditional asset classes given high levels of inflation, according to James King, Head of Structured Credit at M&G Investments. SRT transactions involve a high element of risk but coupons that have the potential to range up to the high teens provide significant compensation, whilst the floating-rate nature of the asset class has typically delivered increased levels of income as interest rates adjust...

Housing needs are defined by age profiles and can be split into five categories. The needs will often be driven by the activities that are likely to be pursued by that cohort, as well as cultural values. For example, we installed larger-than-usual freezer storage space in our student accommodation in Bologna, Italy, given that students will often arrive at university with a year’s worth of frozen food! In this episode, Alex Greaves, Head of UK and European Residential at M&G Investments,...

Housing needs are defined by age profiles and can be split into five categories. The needs will often be driven by the activities that are likely to be pursued by that cohort, as well as cultural values. For example, we installed larger-than-usual freezer storage space in our student accommodation in Bologna, Italy, given that students will often arrive at university with a year’s worth of frozen food! In this episode, Alex Greaves, Head of UK and European Residential at M&G Investments,...

Investing in infrastructure has historically been about existing, stable and secure assets. In recent years, there has been a concerted effort to drive towards sustainable sources of power and energy needs and have resilient local infrastructure. In this instalment, Martin Lennon and Ed Clarke of Infracapital discuss the rise of a whole new set of opportunities, the relationship between the asset class and inflation and what justifies the infrastructure tag, namely essentiality.   Speakers:...

To what extent do European High Yield markets represent good value at the moment and is now an attractive entry point? In this instalment, David Parsons and David Fancourt look at how European High Yield compares to Investment Grade, as well as its counterpart in the US, which has traditionally been the market of choice. They also consider market evolution and compensation for taking credit risk.   Speaker: David Fancourt, Senior Portfolio Manager. Host: David Parsons, Head – Institutional...

The evolution and implementation of ESG across asset classes has not been homogenous, and it resonates more so with corporate debt and equities when compared with specialised asset classes, such as ABS. What has been observed in the marketplace is a development of good outputs for corporates and equities, but with less of a focus on ABS, investors have been left to devise their own strategies. This instalment considers how ESG in ABS differs to other asset classes and asks: What does good...

With a third of the global economy expected to fall into recession in 2023, Jose Pellicer considers previous recessions of 1991 and the Global Financial Crisis, which were succeeded by some of real estate’s finest 8-year returns. He also looks at what happens to the price of risk during economic contraction and how investors can seize the real estate opportunity to bank the recovery when it arrives – as well as the countries and sectors that could be in favour.   Speaker: José Pellicer,...

M&G’s CIOs, Fabiana Fedeli, Will Nicoll and Jim Leaviss share their views as we head into 2023, discussing valuation opportunities, the depth of a potential recession – and how much closer we are to the light at the end of the tunnel of rate hikes and rising inflation.   Speakers:Fabiana Fedeli, Chief Investment Officer, Equities, Multi-Asset and Sustainability Will Nicoll, Chief Investment Officer, Private and Alternative Assets Jim Leaviss, Chief Investment Officer, Public Fixed...

Credit markets have been front and centre stage as the events of 2022 unfolded. With much of the economic bad news now priced in, David Parsons and Richard Ryan analyse what risks investors need to be aware of in the current environment, the case for building into risk now and being sufficiently compensated for taking it at these levels.   Speaker: Richard Ryan, Senior Credit Portfolio Manager Host: David Parsons, Head – Institutional Public Debt Investment Specialist Team     For Investment...

Imagine a new global financial crisis (GFC) materialising every year from here. The market seems focused on the fact that it will get tougher for consumers, and is in some cases pricing in default rates equivalent to GFC levels of stress, for years to come. It is, however, all a question of magnitude when underwriting pools of performing consumer finance assets. In this episode, Jerome Henrion and Jo Tomkins survey the mortgage and consumer loans landscape and assess how current circumstances...

Fixed income and equity markets face being influenced by inputs from all angles, making this no market for broad macro calls. As sweeping bets err into extreme risk exposure, Fabiana Fedeli dissects the virtues of being tactical and selective in an uncertain environment where inflation has reached multi-decade highs.    Speaker: Fabiana Fedeli, Chief Investment Officer for Equities and Multi Asset Host: Romil Patel, Senior Editorial Manager     For Investment Professionals only. Not for...

Like every asset class, the real estate sector is grappling with spiralling inflation and rising interest rates. In times like these, real estate has traditionally been seen as a hedge against inflation, but does it still hold true in the context of what has driven today's inflationary picture?   Host: Romil Patel, Senior Editorial Manager Speaker: Jose Pellicer, Head of Investment Strategy – Real Estate     For Investment Professionals only. Not for onward distribution. No other...

With interest rates, inflation and growth out of kilter, the world is in an extraordinary place. While it may be difficult to see exactly where and how to invest, periods of volatility do also throw up opportunity. In this CIO special, Will Nicoll considers the two big growth engines for private markets that will fundamentally reshape various economies around the globe.   Host: Romil Patel, Senior Editorial Manager Speaker: Will Nicoll, CIO – Private and Alternative Assets       For...

In major economies inflation is approaching double figures and already setting 40-year, or more, highs. This wasn’t supposed to happen but the reality is that it is. In this episode, David Parsons and David Lloyd discuss the once comfortable coalition between central bankers and politicians, the prospect of achieving positive real returns and how fixed income can mitigate the cost of de-risking.   Host: David Parsons, Head – Public Debt Investment Specialist Team Speaker: David Lloyd,...

As the world tried to make sense of the pandemic, a record number of distress funds hit the road to raise capital in the expectation of an avalanche of investment opportunities – but this expectation soon failed to meet reality. Riccardo Cumerlato, Mustafa van Hien and Biliana Sourlekova investigate what happened to the missing deal.   Host: Riccardo Cumerlato, Client Director, Restructuring and Debt Solutions Speakers: Biliana Sourlekova & Mustafa van Hien, Directors – Restructuring...

Traditionally an area dominated by banks, consumer lending is a well-established asset class, but what’s new is that asset owners can now get access to these assets. In this episode, Jerome Henrion guides us through the diversification benefits, inflationary advantages in the current environment, making sense of a heavily data-intensive asset class with more than a billion data points and the key differences between Europe and the US.   Speaker: Jerome Henrion, Head of Specialty Finance,...

Inflation has proved to be anything but transitory. In this episode, David Parsons and David Lloyd discuss the economic impact of an evolving inflationary environment, the implications of supply-constrained inflation feeding into policy, the varying scope for manoeuvre from central banks around the world and why patience is key.    Host: David Parsons, Head – Public Debt Investment Specialist Team Speaker: David Lloyd, Deputy Chief Investment Officer – Public Fixed Income    

As lockdown restrictions lift and economies reopen, Jose Pellicer, Paul Crosbie and Andrew Amos survey the value add landscape and what this means for occupiers and discerning investors. Plus – what does it take to navigate high-quality real estate assets out of complex situations?   Host: Romil Patel, Senior Editorial Manager Speakers: Jose Pellicer, Head of Investment Strategy, M&G Real Estate Andrew Amos, Fund Manager, M&G Investments Paul Crosbie, Fund Manager, M&G...