Critical thinking

We recorded this episode as a part of a podcast series on the occasion of COP27. Each episode illustrates the breadth and depth of Marsh McLennan’s climate capabilities. The issues addressed throughout the series include investment transition, the insurance sector’s role in climate adaption, communities and businesses’ exposure to physical risks, and how companies need to address the inextricable...

We recorded this episode as a part of a podcast series on the occasion of COP27. Each episode illustrates the breadth and depth of Marsh McLennan’s climate capabilities. The issues addressed throughout the series include investment transition, the insurance sector’s role in climate adaption, communities and businesses’ exposure to physical risks, and how companies need to address the inextricable...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. As 2022 comes to a close, insurance companies are facing significant price losses across their portfolios, particularly within long-duration fixed income. On the horizon are the risks of a global recession, peaking fundamentals, persiste...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. 2022 will certainly be remembered as momentous, and it may take some time to fully understand the ramifications of the events that occurred this year. Any of these events individually would likely have had a profound impact on markets, b...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. Where are we now as we reach the end of 2022? Economies have overheated and have begun slowing down, with some potentially in recession already. Are we there yet? Will monetary tightening lead to a deep recession?    Samantha Davidson US...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. 2022 brought a combination of interconnected challenges for all investors including endowments and foundations, from geopolitical conflicts to high inflation, supply chain problems to financial market volatility. In this episode, Cori Tr...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. The past decade was one of the best on record for traditional 60/40 portfolios, but a sharp rise in macroeconomic volatility caused this period of success to come to an abrupt halt.  To explore what effect this has had on financial inter...

We recorded this episode as a part of a podcast series on the occasion of COP27. Each episode illustrates the breadth and depth of Marsh McLennan’s climate capabilities. The issues addressed throughout the series include investment transition, the insurance sector’s role in climate adaption, communities and businesses’ exposure to physical risks, and how companies need to address the inextricable...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. We have seen significant upheaval in global markets in the last twelve months, with a combination of the pandemic recovery, regional conflict, supply chain challenges and technological advancements having a profound impact on the world a...

We recorded this episode as a part of a podcast series on the occasion of COP27. Each episode illustrates the breadth and depth of Marsh McLennan’s climate capabilities. The issues addressed throughout the series include investment transition, the insurance sector’s role in climate adaption, communities and businesses’ exposure to physical risks, and how companies need to address the inextricable...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. In this episode, Rachel Elwell, CEO of Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, discusses their journey to achieve net zero by 2050 with Mercer Research Heads, Rich Dell and Jo Holden. They also explore how to overcome some of the concerns...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. Wealth managers face a combination of issues as global markets enter yet another period of uncertainty while their clients demand sustainable returns – so how are they meeting these challenges? In this episode, Mercer colleagues and spec...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. Evolution is change, and while change might be continuous, its pace may vary over time. The private markets investment landscape has certainly changed over the years since its beginning in the 1940s and has grown to become a ten trillion...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. In this episode, Marg Franklin, President and CEO of the CFA Institute unpacks the 2022 Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index with lead author David Knox, a Senior Partner at Mercer.  Throughout, they explore the results of year’s in...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. Mercer’s Damien Davis is joined by Rebecca Myatt, a Portfolio Manager with First Sentier Investors and Indira Sabitova, a Portfolio Manager with Mercer to explore both the potential benefits of listed infrastructure and what the future h...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. The fear of recession is dominating everyone's mind-set at the moment. The global economy has been slowing and is likely to continue to do so on the back of high commodity prices, rising interest rates and tightening financial condi...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. In this episode, Mercer UK’s Sustainability Integration Lead, Vanessa Hodge is joined by Ashleigh Morris, CEO and co-founder of Coreo and Jillian Reid, Partner in Mercer’s global Sustainable Investment Team to discuss their recent Invest...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. To go straight to one of the key findings, see the chapters below: 1:45 - Macro concerns reflected in the sentiment of the sector 19:22 - Private markets — The big migration, with special guest Dina Richard, Trinity Health 38:05 - Outsou...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. Inflationary pressures that began bubbling during the Covid crisis have come to a head, and central banks are fighting it by engineering an economic slowdown. Risks remain high in some markets, in others there are grounds for optimism an...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. Performance of active equity strategies in Q1 2022 was challenging, leading to unfavourable relative returns over the quarter and, in a number of areas, over the last 12 months. This has raised questions over active management and how in...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. Join Rupert Watson, Head of Asset Allocation Europe and Rachel Volynsky, CIO Canada as they discuss the outlook for equities after significant falls this year. The FED has faced criticism for being too slow to tighten financial condition...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. Rich Nuzum, President of Investments & Retirement, Mercer discusses his perspectives coming away from Davos with International Head of Clients, Mark McNulty.  Listen as Rich shares learnings and new ideas from meeting CEOs, governmen...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. In this episode, Amy Ridge is joined by Dr Ashby Monk, research director at Stanford University’s Long-Term Investing initiative, and Billy Charlton, Mercer’s global head of private markets data analytics & research, to discuss some...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. The level of portfolio protection from high-quality debt instruments that generations of investors have relied with the 60/40 portfolio has been challenged. Investors need more tools in the toolkit. Gold and some currencies can protect w...

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions. In this episode, Angelika Delen is joined by impact investing expert Charly Kleissner, PhD to discuss the difference between impact and deep impact investing, the importance of transparency and how investors need to work together to chan...