Citywire: The Selection Show

The emerging markets have faced an unusually high number of restructuring efforts the governments are not helping themselves with their efforts to properly payback the debt. In the latest EM Insider podcast, portfolio manager and local market expert Raphael Kassin walks us through how Argentina managed to turn an agreement into ‘the worst rout’ that Morgan Stanley had seen in 20 years. This episod...

While it can be tempting to exclude palm oil producers on deforestation concerns, investors should avoid treating the commodity in simple, binary terms. That’s is according to Masja Zandbergen, head of sustainability integration at Robeco, who said it can make sense to stick to the most efficient palm oil producers. Also in this podcast Zandbergen explains how ESG investors should approach so-call...

Sharon Bentley-Hamlyn's appeal for European equities stems from both a singular training in opera singing and multiple financial crises. In the third episode of Breaking & Entering, the AA-rated manager chats about her fascinating path, which led her to found Aubrey Capital. She also discusses contemporary opportunities that stands out in the European market.

Covid-19 has pushed up the social aspect of the ESG acronym, however with job cuts looming across different sectors, how are sustainable investors supposed to react? In this episode of our podcast we talk to Sacha Sadan, director of investment stewardship at LGIM, who explains why the focus should be on executive pay and why transparent tax reporting is rising on ESG investors’ agendas. Also in th...

The idea of ‘vultures’ piling into low-priced bonds after a default and then forcing through restructuring terms that favour them could become a thing of the past if ESG investing really takes hold. That is according to our EM Insider, Raphael Kassin, who made the comments in light of restructuring by Ecuador and Argentina, with the likes of Venezuela and Lebanon likely to go through herculean eff...

The headline from this year’s Citywire Alpha Female report is that it will take 200 years to reach gender parity for portfolio managers in the asset management industry. To dissect these findings and talk about what comes next, reporter Victoire Barbin Perron chats with guests Dr. Nisha Long, who led the research effort, and independent adviser Deborah Gilshan, who is the founder of female empower...

As an openly gay woman, Arisaig Partners’s chief executive, Rebecca Lewis, has made diversity a cornerstone of both her corporate culture and her investment processes. In the first episode of Why Inclusion?, Lewis says, despite structural challenges, implementing inclusivity in the emerging market space has positive ripple effects. The head of the UK-based boutique also unveils some of the firm’s...

In this episode head of sustainability at Liontrust Peter Michaelis zooms in on engagement with companies on climate and why his team invested in pet insurance company Trupanion despite it being overlooked by ESG rating agencies. Also in this podcast he talks about the fast fashion dilemma for sustainable portfolios and how his team debated investing in Alphabet.

Mega trends are in vogue in the fund industry these days, but Lyxor's Arnaud Llinas is aiming to revolutionise the space by offering low-cost solutions that tap into the expertise of non-financial professionals. He talks to Citywire Selector about picking advisers to define the universe of its new ETF range and names his favourite themes.

At just 30 years old, Dr. Armando Cuesta Díaz took a leap of faith and stopped seeing patients to dedicate his time to asset management. In this second episode of Breaking & Entering, Cuesta Díaz tells Victoire Barbin Perron what scientific revolutions drove him to co-found Spanish boutique Ilana Capital and to launch the Abante Biotech fund in 2018. He also reveals the secrets to spotting pro...

While the meat industry is a major producer of emissions, the likelihood that it will go the way of coal or energy seems far-fetched, which means it might be a bit too early to build vegan-focused portfolios. That’s according to Henrik Pontzen, head of ESG at Union Investment. In a far-reaching episode of ‘Let’s Talk About ESG’, Ponzen explains why E, S and G don’t go far enough and how other dime...

Argentina has blown its final chance to prove its worth and it is high time the Latin American country was barred from international bond markets, according to our EM Insider, Raphael Kassin. In this first episode since Kassin returned from Brazil, the emerging markets specialists explains his strong feelings and why his home nation finds it so hard to shake itself from long-running corruption sto...

Most people in finance have been in the industry their whole lives, but that’s not the case for Citywire AAA-rated Randall Dishmon. Randy, who is a senior global equity portfolio manager at Invesco, honed his skills in the diverse worlds of engineering and professional music before moving into fund management. In this new series called Breaking & Entering, Randy tells Victoire Barbin Perron ho...

In this episode, Citywire Selector speaks to Sudhir Roc-Sennett, head of ESG at Vontobel’s quality growth boutique. He reveals his course of action if controversy occurs in a stock his team is invested in. He also explains why it paid off to hire investigative journalists when it comes to engagement and why it is important to talk to beer companies.

‘I cut my teeth as a hack at a newswire in the early 90s,’ admits Dan Scott, who despite holding one of the top jobs in wealth management doesn’t shy away from his career start in journalism. In this podcast, Scott also explains how it felt to take over from his predecessor Lars Kalbreier in some of the most turbulent months for the financial markets, what he thinks about the death of value and ho...

Hendrik-Jan Boer, head of sustainable investments equity at NNIP, explains what the Wirecard situation means for ESG investing, why it benefits salmon growers to have sustainability reports and how NNIP’s own sustainability investments have evolved over the last 20 years.

In a special episode of EM Insider, Raphael Kassin is on the ground in Rio de Janeiro as it becomes a global focal point for the Covid-19 outbreak and President Bolsonaro fights for power. In this episode, Raphael tells Chris Sloley why Brazil is becoming increasingly uninvestable. Also in this episode, we look at how Argentina has delayed its debt restructuring but potentially alienated all futur...

In this episode of our ESG-focused podcast, we talk to Lisa Beauvilain from Impax AM about the threat that corporate lobbying poses to green investors, why you might need to consider ‘killing’ your ESG darlings and how asset managers can aid the fight against racism.

The Covid-19 crisis has caused many headaches for asset management chiefs, but you need to focus on plans being delayed rather than destroyed, according to Artisan Partners’ chief executive officer, Eric Colson. In this latest episode of Future Thinking, Colson reveals how his multi-disciplined firm has responded to the market challenges, why his autonomous sub-group approach can thrive in the fut...

The road ahead for real assets can be hugely positive but more work needs to be done to better educate investors from the outset, according to Gresham House’s chief executive officer, Tony Dalwood. In this latest episode of Future Thinking, Dalwood talks about how he reshaped Gresham House’s real assets efforts, what the future could be for real assets and what could shape the real assets agenda o...

Digital strategies have raced to the top of investment firms’ agendas, while companies and countries have both begun to realise that whoever has access to the greatest amount of data will ultimately win the growing cold war around tech. The latest Future Thinking podcast welcomes GAM’s Amanda Lyons, who works across several technology funds at the Swiss group. Also in this discussion, Lyons talks...

Nordea Asset Management’s Eric Pedersen only started his role as head of responsible investments at the end of last year, but he already has his hands full. He spoke to us about the EU’s forthcoming ESG taxonomy and how his team is getting ready for its implementation. We also discussed whether boutique asset managers will be swept by an ESG reporting tsunami, and he revealed his proudest achievem...

5G is the future – but what is it really? There are few issues that feature more prominently in discussions around technology and communication than this next level of telecommunications. So, who better to speak to than YT Boon, a chipmaker-turned-fund-manager running a 5G-focused fund at Neuberger Berman? This conversation covers the whole gamut, from the onset of the Internet of Things to the se...

Pictures of clear skies and clean air are great for short-term indications of how we can improve the environment but the reality is that Covid-19 has not meaningfully staved off the negative impacts of climate change in any meaningful way. In the latest episode of Future Thinking, Ben McEwen, climate investment analyst at Sarasin & Partners, discusses his unique role, the importance of educati...

There is one emerging market which is proposing such strange measures that it might as well put a dome around itself and cut itself off from the rest of the world. That’s according to our EM Insider, Raphael Kassin. In the latest episode of our deep dive into developing world debt, Raphael talks Citywire Selector’s editor Chris Sloley through a wide array of market challenges and problems coming t...