Rates, regulation and the dash for cash

What role could private assets play in UK defined-contribution pension schemes, where decision-makers are searching for returns and diversification? Heather Brown from our UK pensions team consults a panel of specialists.

Ben Sanderson explains why polarisation in real estate investment performance is only going to increase from here.

After a slow start to the year, Darryl Murphy ponders what it will take to get the UK infrastructure market moving again.

Fiscal intervention is, again, a vital part of the government policy toolkit, supporting plans to boost domestic industries and fight climate change. But while well-intended, such measures will add to already elevated debt levels, with significant implications for investors, as Michael Grady explains.

In a world where potential pitfalls loom around every corner, Peter Fitzgerald and Ian Pizer explain why investors need to look beyond what financial models are telling them to keep portfolios resilient to the challenges ahead.

Cracks have begun to emerge in the banking sector in recent weeks. As the tide of cheap money that has flooded financial markets for more than a decade ebbs, members of our investment teams are on the lookout for other signs of distress.

Opportunities are emerging across real estate markets in the UK and Europe, but investors will have to be nimble and discerning in their asset selection, say Imogen Ebbs and George Fraser-Harding.

Faced with a more challenging outlook for returns, real-estate equity investors must get more sophisticated and active, argue Ben Sanderson and David Hedalen.

China looks set for a rapid economic rebound in the first quarter after finally abandoning its zero-COVID policy. But will the recovery prove temporary as longer-term dynamics reassert themselves?

Zoe Austin makes the case for a multi-asset investment approach in real assets.

Central banks will find it far harder to eradicate inflation than markets anticipate and will be in no hurry to ease off on rate hikes, argues Ian Pizer.

Institutional investors seeking alternatives to bonds may find amortising leases a compelling option, writes Mark Wells.