Tempted by more opportunites and better flexibility, European and UK pension funds are turning to global equity mandates and away from domestic holdings.

Efforts by regulators to improve the transparency of complex markets – and shield the retail investor from potentially another crisis – could result in tougher constraints on trading liquidity and impact those most in need of protection.

Bond market volatility has led investors to look at new ways of constructing liability-driven investment portfolios.

Any delay in the time it takes to process a trade will cost the end investor missed opportunities and misplaced liquidity, which is why trimming latency to the microsecond is becoming a hot business. But can everyone compete in the ‘race’ to trade at the speed of light?

Chinese sovereign wealth funds have largely sidestepped the doom and gloom suffered by other global markets, leaving them more appealing than ever to foreign asset managers. But winning mandates from these funds isn’t easy.

Saudi Arabian assets have long been clouded in secrecy, making them difficult for foreign investors to access. Though some companies are opening up, progress on transparency must accelerate.

A third quarter boost in capital inflows to hedge funds has buoyed one of the global financial meltdown’s most infamous industries, writes Henry Smith.

Asia’s financial centres such as Hong Kong and Singapore know what it takes to rebuild confidence, restore liquidity and stress-test their market infrastructures in the aftermath of a full-blown crisis. Now, with China as the region’s powerhouse, it’s time the rest of the world took note.

The asset bubble is an elusive creature not suited to long-term investment strategies, but there is speculation that Chinese stocks could be growing at a pace that could benefit investors on a global scale.

Diversification may not have been as successful during the market crisis as many would have hoped, but if investors and managers assess each scenario with fresh eyes, loss can be reduced and returns can still be gained. By Henry Smith.

Hedge funds have been hard hit by volatile markets, with clients falling over themselves to redeem capital for fear of even greater losses. But managers have done little to help the cause, and must put their words into action if the sector is to turn its fortunes around. By Henry Smith.

The real estate market has changed significantly over the past decade, becoming much more mature with greater transparency and more experienced investors. But does that mean it is better positioned to deal with the sizeable losses it is suffering? By Spencer Anderson.

Pension funds are able to take a longer term strategic view than most investors, but with assets under management suffering alarming falls in 2008 and more of the same likely this year, will they stick to their guns or decide to change their asset allocations? By Spencer Anderson.

Corporate credit is clawing its way back into the investment briefs of the world’s largest fixed income managers. With pension funds increasingly seeing value in investment grade and high-yield or distressed products as a strategic counterpoint to low yielding gilts and treasuries, has credit turned the corner for good? By Nat Mankelow.

Pension funds using LDI strategies fared better in 2008 than those without. But while their use in continental Europe is well established, are they just an intermediate step for UK trustees before looking at a buyout? By Henry Smith.

As the consensus that ESG factors impact long-term financial performance grows, so do the challenges of quantifying and integrating those factors into the optimisation of traditional diversified portfolios. By Martin Steward.

Hermes offers two distinct services around governance and shareholder engagement: Equity Ownership Services pools investors’ assets behind active engagement programs, while Hermes Focus Asset Management offers products that extract the alpha from those processes. By Martin Steward.

If an ESG policy is to be coherent, it will eventually have to apply across an investor’s entire portfolio – including alternative investments. But are the relevant questions being seriously formulated yet, let alone being asked? By Martin Steward.

The prime brokerage landscape is changing. Hedge funds, stung by the freezing of assets held at Lehman Brothers, are seeking protection against defaults by setting up accounts with multiple prime brokers. But despite the short-term turmoil, many are bullish about the industry’s long-term future. By Henry Smith.

The insurance buyout solution to pension liabilities seems to have taken off this year. But there is an argument that recent pricing is unsustainable and that the industry could head for consolidation if the financial crisis blocks access to capital to meet expected demand. By Martin Steward.

Its success in the Netherlands means fiduciary management is ripe for export, but UK pension funds still have their reservations. By Spencer Anderson.

New fiduciary-style mandates could simplify fee structures and make access to alpha cheaper for investors faced with governance constraints. By Martin Steward.

As western markets stutter and soaring industrial and consumer demand rockets in the east, emerging markets now look set to be by far the greatest contributor to global growth. With their sovereign and institutional wealth expanding, new actors on the world stage are altering the existing investment paradigm. By Peter Guest

Emerging market debt has always provided excellent diversification for traditional equity and bond portfolios, and the recent inflation spike reveals increasing diversification within the asset class itself. By Martin Steward.

The past 18 months have put paid to any remaining doubts about the benefits of diversifying real estate portfolios out of developed markets. But some emerging property markets may suit investors better than others. By Martin Steward.

It is not just pension schemes but the market as a whole which is hungry for the inflation protection and diversification benefits that inflation-linked and indexed products provide. But government debt offices are struggling to issue enough to keep up with investor demand. By Nat Mankelow.

In theory anything that is not cash should act as some kind of inflation protection. But a closer look at two sources of “real asset” returns suggests that true correlation is difficult to achieve, particularly over the short term. By Martin Steward.

European institutional investors are experimenting with separating their alpha and beta return streams. In theory there are cost-efficiency and risk-management payoffs – but is it as simple as it sounds?. By Martin Steward.

Awash with liquidity, GCC members are investing in the wider Middle East and North Africa region and even looking towards India and the far East. Peter Guest reports.

From the 51st floor of the Emirates Hotel Tower in Dubai, guests can see how close they are to the desert. Directly below is a single line of skyscrapers. In their shadow is a rough spread of low-rise, sand-coloured houses, and behind that, nothing.

Nat Mankelow talks to Egyptian Minster of Investment, Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin, about aims to promote and establish the country as a location for financial services.

Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin, Egypt’s Minister of Investment, has much to occupy his working day. There is a serious bread shortage in the country, a situation caused by high wheat prices worldwide and persisting despite a government subsidy.

When Société Générale’s Jérôme Kerviel posted the largest ever single trading loss this February there were striking similarities with other rogue trading scandals from the past. Peter Guest asks whether or not the industry has learnt its lesson.

January 21 was generally a bad day to be trading. Quickly dubbed ‘Black Monday’, it saw the FTSE 100 record its largest ever fall. The US markets were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but Asian and European markets tumbled. It was, therefore, not a good time to start unwinding directional positions in European stock indices totalling close to €50bn.