Proxy voting played a major role in the Alberta Investment Management Corp.’s responsible investment strategy during the past year, according to its newly released annual responsible investment report for 2018-19. During the 2018/19 proxy voting season the AIMCo reviewed and approved more than 30,000 ballot items and voted on 99 per cent of 3,324 meetings […]
With the rise in socially responsible investing and quantitative strategies, are institutional investors that incorporate environmental, social and governance factors making markets less efficient and increasing mispricing signals? The link between socially responsible investing and the efficacy of signals used by quantitative investors is explored in a new working paper by Jie Cao, associate professor […]
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 […]
Active mutual funds that engage in securities lending through in-house lending agents should raise questions for institutional investors. These funds may “reach for lending fees” by overweighting high-fee stocks, according to a new working paper by Travis Johnson, an assistant professor of finance, and Gregory Weitzner, a PhD student, both from the University of Texas’ […]
When sell-side stock analysts tell the public to buy, they may in fact be whispering sell to their institutional investor clients, according to a new working paper by Yushui Shi, a PhD candidate at the University of California, Irvine. The paper, which is based on data from China, looks at mutual fund managers voting for […]
Romania will be reclassified from a frontier to a secondary emerging market and Tanzania will become a frontier market, effective September 2020, according to the equity side of FTSE Russell’s latest classification review. Argentina was removed from the watch list for potential reclassification as a secondary emerging market because it has imposed capital controls. And […]
China warned the United States against trying to limit investment ties between the two countries, even as the Trump administration contradicted a report that Washington might be considering removing Chinese companies from American stock exchanges. The foreign ministry appealed to Washington to “meet us halfway” and resolve disputes amid a tariff war that threatens to […]
In a world where zero-fee funds are rising, how are fund managers making money? And while zero fees sound beneficial for investors, is it really the best option? Marius Zoican, an assistant professor of finance at the University of Toronto Mississauga and Rotman School of Management, tackled these questions in a new working paper. During […]
As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moves to increase its oversight over proxy voting advisory firms, Horizons ETFs is evolving its proxy voting policies to take on a more socially responsible investing position. “We do have an obligation to our unit-holders to act in their best fiduciary interest, but we also have a socially […]
Recent research by MSCI Inc. is suggesting conventional virgin plastic could become the next stranded asset. The move toward electric vehicles and global efforts to reduce carbon emissions may cause oil demand for road transport to peak in 2025, according to the research. In response, oil and gas companies are expected to pivot their focus […]