With the S&P 500 up around 90 per cent over the last five years — the so-called ‘Magnificent 7’ driving nearly 70 per cent of its gains this year — and trillions of dollars planned for artificial intelligence spending, some institutional investors have begun to question whether we are in a bubble and whether a […]
In its November, semi-annual index review, MSCI Inc., implemented the third increase in a series of planned increases to China A shares within its emerging markets indexes. Within its China index specifically, MSCI will be adding 204 new constituents, mostly mid-cap companies. The inclusion factor of the existing shares will also be increased. China A […]
The MSCI Inc. is launching five thematic indexes to track the performance of what it calls ‘megatrends,’ namely the rise of smart cities, the digital economy, future mobility, disruptive technology and millennials. Institutional investors can use these indexes as investment policy benchmarks, as the basis for passive products or as benchmarks against which to measure […]
In the age old question of whether passive or active investing is the best course, a new paper from Mercer proposed a simple answer: it depends. Specifically, it depends on what an investors’ goals and priorities actually are, the paper said. The popularity of passive strategies can, in part, be attributed to their continued success. […]
In a recent working paper, University of Toronto assistant professor Adriana Robertson takes a deep dive into the world of index investing and argues that it’s not passive in reality, but rather a form of delegated management. In the paper, Robertson examined hundreds of indices and found that none of them were truly passive. “I […]
Coverage of the 2014 Investment Innovation Conference