The Little Book of Data

Individual investors have long been derided for buying and selling investments at the worst possible moment. But recent events suggest this characterisation is outdated.

Unlike liquid markets and real estate, a lack of publicly available data has made assessing risk more challenging for infrastructure equity assets. Laurence Monnier considers the options for investors looking to complement qualitative assessments with quantitative rigour.

In a wide-ranging conversation with AIQ, the self-described “disruptive capitalist” whizzes through the highlights of a varied career and ambitions for his latest venture, the UK’s first consolidating pension ‘superfund’. Words by Miles Costello.

The global economy looks to be recovering from the COVID-19 outbreak faster than once seemed likely. However, a big divergence in prospects is emerging between richer and poorer nations.

Herd-like lending behaviour is counter-productive and exacerbates real estate risks. Gregor Bamert argues a wider range of capital sources and investment approaches may help combat this in future.

The advent of tougher regulations after the global financial crisis led investors to think banks were safe. Was the Archegos scandal a wake-up call or much ado about nothing?

The focus on net-zero targets has intensified scrutiny on measurement and disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions. But carbon accounting is a young art, explains Dr Matthew Brander, senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.

A landmark legal ruling in the Hague has ordered Royal Dutch Shell to move faster to bring its emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on climate. Thomas Tayler, a trained lawyer and senior manager at Aviva Investors’ Sustainable Finance Centre for Excellence, assesses the fallout.

Value or growth? It is an age-old debate and, as Giles Parkinson argues, a slightly irrelevant one given the changing makeup of the economy and the gentle decoupling of intrinsic value from financial statements.

In the latest instalment of our visual series on topical data themes, we look at Tesla’s market cap relative to the European “Big Five” carmakers, the average CSR spending of FTSE 100 companies versus their procurement budget and the most common reasons for a CEO to leave a company.

While much of the developed world appears to be on the road to recovery, aided by the rapid roll-out of vaccines, the outlook for many poorer countries is far less favourable, says Ian Pizer.

As governments and companies strive to reduce carbon emissions and achieve net zero, questions are being asked about the role of natural climate solutions. We analyse differing approaches to offsetting and their impact on forest management.

Some companies have long sought to mislead the public about their commitments to sustainability, but greenwashing has become more widespread and sophisticated in recent years. Now regulators and investors are fighting back.

Although economic growth, operating leverage and valuations support equities, it is too early to tell whether value stocks are finally set to make a comeback, says Sunil Krishnan.

Just before COVID-19, some of the world’s biggest companies pledged to look beyond the pursuit of profit alone to consider the interests of a wider group of stakeholders, including employees and local communities. But are they ready to back up their words with actions?

Companies cannot thrive without healthy and happy employees, consumers, and communities. Investors must use their influence with companies and other stakeholders to ensure the basic rights of these groups are respected.