Client Advisory

Generative AI’s capacity to produce new realistic content has drawn the world’s attention, but what is its place in investing? In this talk, we consider both the promise and limitations of generative AI and other deep learning technologies. We also highlight factors that will drive success or failure in investing applications.

Concentrated equity strategies have gained attention from asset owners seeking high conviction active investments, but do they live up to that premise? In this session, we present novel empirical research that addresses this question, and we highlight challenges that concentrated strategies pose for manager selection and portfolio construction. We then contrast concentrated equity strategies with an alternative path to high conviction—systematic extension strategies.

Although geopolitical risk is omnipresent in investing, there is little systematic research on the relationship between geopolitics and markets. In this talk, we explore how markets react to shocks and process uncertainty. We also demonstrate a novel methodology to help investors measure and manage macro event-related risks that overcomes shortcomings of conventional tools.

The investing climate around China has been in flux during recent years, leading many investors to reassess whether and how they should obtain exposure to the country. In this discussion, we offer a structured approach to key questions facing asset owners regarding their EM allocations in relation to China. We consider pros and cons of EM investing based on conventional benchmark definitions as opposed to bifurcating China from the rest of EM, and we highlight key considerations in engineering such allocations.

Crashes are regular features of markets, and they can have a dramatic impact on long-term total returns. Even so, investors do not consistently factor crash risk into the design of their portfolios. In this session, we’ll compare approaches to preparing for black swans, consider where crash risk exposure may be going unnoticed in portfolios, and examine how premium harvesters might underwrite such risk transparently and efficiently.

In this talk, we take a provocative look at value. Leveraging our extensive research on the topic, we dispel myths about value’s performance in equity markets around the world, and we consider its outlook afresh. We outline a clear approach to value investing and demonstrate the benefits of nuanced implementation.

Although diversification is a cornerstone of portfolio theory, investors often abandon it or feel abandoned by it. In good times, they chase performance, and in bad times they find that many “uncorrelated return streams” fail to deliver promised protection. In this talk, we examine why many conventional modes of diversification improve portfolio optics more than economics, and we highlight key elements of a more durable approach.

Shifting macro and market conditions raise fundamental questions for investors. Do markets compensate investors for rising volatility? Does turbulence make for a “stock picker’s market?” How does active strategy performance depend on the business cycle? In this talk, we challenge conventional wisdoms around these questions and draw inferences for asset allocation and manager selection.