101: The CIO Call: 23 April 2020
This week on The CIO Call to discuss what’s happening in markets this week and what it all means for investors:   ·         Sonja Laud, Chief Investment Officer ·         Madeline King, Co-Head of Pan-European Investment Grade Research ·         Martin Reeves, Head of Global High Yield   This episode is hosted by Max Julius and was recorded earlier today.   Follow us on LinkedIn for our latest ...
32m Apr 23, 2020
32m
100: The CIO Call: 16 April 2020
This week on The CIO Call to discuss what’s happening in markets this week and what it all means for investors:   ·         Sonja Laud, Chief Investment Officer ·         Hetal Mehta, Senior European Economist ·         Howie Li, Head of ETFs   This episode is hosted by Max Julius and was recorded earlier today.   Follow us on LinkedIn for our latest updates and discover The LGIM Blog for the l...
33m Apr 16, 2020
33m
99: The CIO Call: 9 April 2020
This week on The CIO Call, the following speakers discuss what is happening in markets and what it all means for investors:   ·         Sonja Laud, Chief Investment Officer ·         Sacha Sadan, Director of Investment Stewardship ·         David Barron, Head of Index Equity & Smart Beta   This episode is hosted by Max Julius and was recorded earlier today.   ·         Follow us on LinkedIn for...
30m Apr 09, 2020
30m
98: The CIO Call: 2 April 2020
This week on The CIO Call to discuss what’s happening in markets this week and what it all means for investors:   ·         Sonja Laud, Chief Investment Officer ·         Bill Hughes, Head of Real Assets ·         Tim Dougall, Head of Investment Advisory ·         Guy Whitby Smith, Head of Solutions Portfolio Management, LDI Funds   This episode is hosted by Max Julius and was recorded earlier ...
28m Apr 02, 2020
28m
97: The CIO Call: 26 March 2020
This week, John Roe, Head of Multi-Asset Funds, and Colin Reedie, Co-Head of Global Fixed Income, joins The CIO Call with Sonja Laud, Chief Investment Officer, to discuss what’s happening in markets this week and what it all means for investors.   This episode is hosted by Max Julius and was recorded earlier today.   ·         Follow us on LinkedIn for our latest updates and discover our ‘Futur...
29m Mar 26, 2020
29m
96: The CIO Call: 19 March 2020
This week, Tim Drayson, Head of Economics, and Ben Bennett, Head of Investment Strategy and Research, joins the call with Sonja Laud, Chief Investment Officer, to discuss what’s happening in markets this week and what it all means for investors.   This episode is hosted by Max Julius and was recorded earlier today.   ·         Follow us on LinkedIn for our latest updates and discover our ‘Futur...
15m Mar 19, 2020
15m
95: How to build a more robust portfolio
When the direction of markets seems totally unknowable, constructing an investment strategy can sometimes feel like a battle. Among other things, investors need to find a decent array of weapons, or investment opportunities; guard against attacks, or shield against unrewarded risks; and, as no plan survives contact with the enemy, adapt to changing market circumstances. This week we’re talking ...
20m Mar 11, 2020
20m
94: Living the dream? The Retirement Living Standards with Emma Douglas, Head of DC
How much money do you really need in retirement? Amid large amounts of confusion in the UK workforce, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) might just have the answer. Inspired by the “five-a-day” mantra, the PLSA’s Policy Board have developed Retirement Living Standards as guidelines for how much retirees need to live off – and what they can realistically afford to buy – at thre...
25m Mar 05, 2020
25m
93: Why corporate culture matters
Leadership, strategy and culture are all critical when assessing a company – whether for future investment or perhaps if you’re considering a role there. But the one that always stands out to employees’ lived experiences is culture and yet is still seen as so elusive given it is embedded in unspoken behaviours, social patterns and mind-sets. This makes it hard for boards and would-be investors ...
25m Feb 26, 2020
25m
92: Is the new Stewardship Code 2020 the greenwashing killer we’ve all been waiting for?
So many of our conversations with investors about stewardship are about two key problems: how can we judge the impact of your actions and how can we compare your work with your competitors? When so many are claiming to have ESG in their DNA, the ambitious update to the Stewardship Code goes a long way to putting an end to greenwashing. With new expectations about how investment and stewardship ...
27m Feb 21, 2020
27m
91: Are robo-advisers disrupting the wealth management industry? We ask Chris Barrett from JM Finn
It’s no secret that robo-advisers have opened up the industry. For years, wealth managers appeared as though they only catered for the those who, well, had a large amount of wealth to be managed.  But is the story of the technological upstart disrupting an age-old industry too reductive? And can robo-advice really provide the necessary guidance customers are looking for when so many have such n...
21m Feb 12, 2020
21m
90: Real Assets: How flexible spaces are transforming the office sector
What makes a ‘modern’ office space that genuinely suits occupiers’ needs? Is it a fully serviced environment, accompanied by all the technological bells and whistles available? Or perhaps it’s the more traditional but sparsely furnished option? Customer expectations today have highlighted the limitations of both services and traditional offices and the need for genuine intermediate solutions. ...
32m Feb 05, 2020
32m
89: AI, robot: harnessing the investment potential of technological breakthroughs
The opportunities being created by the wider adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are immense. Spending on cognitive and AI systems is forecast to grow from $12 billion in 2017 to $78 billion in 2022, according to IDC, and McKinsey projects that AI technologies are likely to increase global economic output by $13 trillion, or 16%, by 2030. For cutting-edge insight into these tr...
23m Jan 29, 2020
23m
88: Stepping stones to end-game: a DB-focused podcast with Lisa Purdy (Head of Fiduciary Distribution) and Pretty Sagoo (Head of Pricing and Execution)
2018 was a record year for pension scheme bulk annuity transactions, with nearly £25bn of deals, and this trend will have continued into 2019 too. According to a survey by AoN Hewitt, the time for schemes to reach their end‐game target is currently less than ten years.  Every pension scheme is different, so even if schemes are targeting the same solution, they will need their own bespoke action...
15m Jan 22, 2020
15m
87: Why a strong audit committee is so important, with Sacha Sadan, Director of Corporate Governance
Whether we believe it or not, trust in the system is broken. Recent audit scandals have prompted reform and yet further reform is expected.    Having a robust audit committee is a pivotal aspect of improving the effectiveness and accuracy of auditing, and restoring trust. The audit committee has responsibility for the assurance framework for both financial and non-financial published numbers. A...
18m Jan 15, 2020
18m
86: What makes the perfect fund manager meeting – with James Calder, City Asset Management
Meeting fund managers to talk about new products or their performance takes up so much of fund researchers’ time. With so many managers to meet, researchers like James have developed a number of strategies to make help them and others in the industry get the most from these meetings as possible.   In this episode, we talk to James Calder and LGIM’s own Matthew Kemp about the City Asset Manageme...
15m Jan 08, 2020
15m
85: In Conversation With: Hetal Mehta, Senior European Economist
It’s not often that you have to read full state constitutions as part of your role. But Brexit and the European political upheaval of recent years have transformed Hetal’s day-to-day work as an economist. LGIM’s foremost speaker on Brexit and European politics and economics, she has appeared on the BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC and more to filter the investment signals from the political noise.   In thi...
15m Jan 02, 2020
15m
84: CIO Outlook 2020: The year of change
This is an extraordinary moment for investors. Many asset classes have notched up double-digit returns over 2019, with equities hovering close to record highs even as trillions of dollars of bonds offer negative yields. But even though markets appear to underappreciate certain key risks, there are still reasons for investors to be cheerful.     In our final episode of the year, we talk to Sonja...
26m Dec 17, 2019
26m
83: In Conversation With: Michelle Scrimgeour, CEO, LGIM
In this special episode, Michelle Scrimgeour reflects on her career through asset management and her first five months as CEO of Legal & General Investment Management. From her time at Blackrock, M&G, Columbia Threadneedle and now LGIM, it’s clear that the City has not just become more international but also more inclusive “Culture is critical”, she says. “Joining LGIM was a different role agai...
17m Dec 11, 2019
17m
82: DB: Emerging market debt, the missing piece of the cashflow puzzle
With over $15 trillion in negative yielding bonds in the market, a decade of loose monetary policy has left developed market yields languishing and investors on the hunt for sources of higher return. Enter emerging market debt. At a market size of over $12 trillion, this can no longer be considered a niche asset class.    Cashflow matching strategies are customised investment solutions, designe...
17m Dec 04, 2019
17m
81: Anthony Raymond, General Counsel and Director of Legal Services, The Pensions Regulator
Governance is at the heart of what The Pensions Regulator (TPR) does because good governance means good outcomes for members. With a wealth of new statutory guidance coming into force, especially in such areas as ESG, Anthony has been instrumental in delivering education and support to help trustees find their way through this new regulatory landscape.     Joining us at our DB/DC Client Investm...
15m Nov 27, 2019
15m
80: Working on water: investment opportunities in solving the world’s water crisis
The world is facing a water crisis. If that sounds alarmist, consider a few statistics. The global per capita water supply has fallen by 56% since 1962, with 57% of aquifers having passed the tipping point. By 2025, 1.8 billion people are expected to be living in regions with absolute water scarcity and two-thirds of the world’s population will be living under water-stress conditions.   Populat...
22m Nov 20, 2019
22m
79: Managing millennials and intergenerational ways of working, with Dr Paul Redmond, University of Liverpool
One the most engaging speakers at both LGIM’s Retail and DB/DC Client Conferences, Dr Paul Redmond is one of the foremost speakers on the subject of how different generations can work together most effectively. There has been so much written about millennials – what they want, what they don’t want, their expectations – that it can seem like this is really a generation that stands apart and some...
19m Nov 12, 2019
19m
78: Thematic investing – Your questions answered
In an episode earlier this year, Howie Li and John Roe discussed (https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/-hvkCgLGqTWPXVhKZjwM?domain=embeds.audioboom.com) what separates long-term investment themes from fads. As Howie explains, the enduring themes are those that are changing the foundations of how we live and work – from disruptive technology to the energy revolution and demographic shifts. Yet capt...
26m Nov 06, 2019
26m
77: DC: Dealing with retirement challenges, with Julie Richards, Boots Walgreens Alliance
Live from the Landmark Hotel! We recorded this episode while at our DB/DC Client Conference where the topic of dealing with retirement anxiety was such a major topic. So that’s why we’re absolutely delighted to be joined by Julie Richards Group Director of Pensions of Boots Walgreens Alliance. The challenges of whether pension scheme members are prepared enough for retirement (“the cliff edge”)...
17m Oct 30, 2019
17m
76: Fadi Zaher, author of “Index Fund Management, A Practical Guide to Smart Beta”
What can Alex Ferguson’s career teach us about factor investing? In recent years, index and factor investing solutions have been bestsellers. But factor investing success is not a foregone conclusion, and there are plenty of quirks and misprints in the literature.  In his new book, Index Fund Management: A Practical Guide to Smart Beta, Factor Investing and Risk Premia, Fadi Zaher simplifies th...
25m Oct 23, 2019
25m
75: ESG: Why divestment might hold some nasty surprises
Many investors will still tell you that responsible investment approaches begin and end with negative screens – excluding whole sectors such as oil & gas from portfolios. This is entirely understandable: if an investor wants an ESG integrated portfolio, it seems strange to continue to hold oil stocks. But when you apply this to a market-cap index – such as the MSCI World with its whopping 5% en...
16m Oct 16, 2019
16m
74: DC: The power of data science
Many pension schemes store a huge amount of member data. But this is often difficult to access, incomplete or inconsistent, and stored in multiple formats – PDFs, spreadsheets and others. Schemes struggle to analyse their data, develop sample user personas, and make predictions about future trends and behaviours, let alone support members in improving their pension choices to improve outcomes. ...
14m Oct 09, 2019
14m
73: “It’s all about the service”: Keith Richards, Personal Finance Society CEO
Advisers are no stranger to the PFS. With its royal charter to ‘secure and justify the confidence of the public’, this professional body is committed to helping its members develop their careers and maintain high standards through competence, integrity and care for the customer. Under the leadership of Keith Richards, the society has focused on three key pillars: (1) greater member engagement, ...
36m Oct 02, 2019
36m
72: DB: Is your scheme a well-oiled machine?
Unfortunately, and as much as we might like it to be the case, there is no miracle elixir for defined benefit schemes. Rather than hoping for magic, we’ve identified some tried and tested methods for making sure schemes run like well-oiled machine – mixed metaphors aside.  Studies have long shown that asset allocation is hugely important, typically accounting for the vast majority of the variat...
15m Sep 26, 2019
15m
71: In Conversation With: Colette Comerford, Head of Inclusion and Culture
Her path from sports to asset management is a fascinating one – from her first job in Dublin, to London where international clients would mistake her for French because of her distinctly un-Irish name! After having been recruited into recruiting by a recruiter at asset manager M&G, she saw how this world is about connecting with talent and how do we as a company and an industry present ourselve...
28m Sep 23, 2019
28m
70: Real assets: Urban logistics has made the industrial sector exciting again
E-commerce has changed the way we shop in a rapid space of time, growing at an annual average of 17% according to ONS calculations. But our demand for quick, reliable delivery has driven up the demand for logistics-capable properties closer to urban centres and this has reinvigorated the once ‘steady and dull’ industrial real assets sector. Prologis estimates that e-commerce logistics requires ...
37m Sep 18, 2019
37m
69: Fixed income: Forecasting ‘fallen angel’ downgrades
 The last decade has transformed the investment grade credit market. It’s not just that the size of the market has grown immensely, it’s that the average credit quality is much lower, meaning that risk of ‘fallen angel’ downgrades from investment grade to high yield rating is much higher. When the team stress-tested the investment grade market, the results were surprising: the number of expecte...
24m Sep 12, 2019
24m
68: CIO Outlook: Opportunities in adversity
 When contemplating what the final months of 2019 might have in store, we are probably similar to many other investors in feeling somewhat apprehensive, given the challenges we face: trade tensions, slowing growth, policy uncertainty and, of course, Brexit. Global growth has cooled over the last year and so the key question is whether the world economy has the underlying strength to prevent a n...
26m Sep 10, 2019
26m
67: Separating the fads from the long-term trends
We’re promised so many different things that are going to ‘change the world’ – from ever-smarter smartphones to space tourism. And investing for the long term means that each of us in the market are trying to assess what are the most meaningful changes, the impact they might have on our portfolios and where the new investment opportunities might be. But a question we’re so often asked by alloca...
31m Sep 04, 2019
31m
66: Generation Z: Summer special
With an August bank holiday hitting the mid-thirties, it feels like summer is going out with a bang. That’s why we thought we’d record a summer special episode of our own while we’re joined by some incredibly talented work experience guests at Legal & General Investment Management. Following our episode on millenials and how they’re saving and investing, we took the opportunity to ask these mem...
16m Aug 28, 2019
16m
65: Changing of Lagarde: Why personalities matter for central banks
Christine Lagarde has a CV that makes many of us jealous: partner at the prestigious law firm Baker McKenzie by age 31, finance minister for France during the financial crisis, Chairman of the G20 in 2011 before becoming Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and most recently, nominated to the presidency of the European Central Bank.  In this episode, we’re discussing how invest...
26m Aug 21, 2019
26m
64: How advisers are managing customers’ risk/return expectations, with Andy O’Shea, Pharon IFA
We’ve unintentionally created a series in the past few months on the podcast. From the episode with Richard Romer-Lee which touched on the importance of communication with customers to the one with Helena Morrissey about how technology can help advisers reach more of the ‘uninvested’, these form a theme about how we as an industry are communicating with clients. This week we’re continuing that ...
30m Aug 14, 2019
30m
63: In conversation with: Howie Li, Head of ETFs
While his distinctive Canadian twang might give him away, but Howie came to the UK to study law and fell in love with the place. A lawyer by training, he saw that would provide a useful structure of skills for transferring to a more commercial industry.  From his time advising hedge funds to his current role as Head of ETFs, Howie has seen the index industry transformed over the years. Just 10 ...
15m Aug 07, 2019
15m
62: Are you getting the most out of your ETF trading?
Many investors don’t think they need an ETF trading strategy – that is until it’s too late. After all, how different can it be from trading a stock?  But buying and selling ETFs requires a much clearer view on the liquidity of the underlying securities. According to this week’s guest, Annacarla Dellepiane, Head of ETF Capital Markets, employing best practices can shave crucial basis points off ...
11m Jul 31, 2019
11m
61: Modern Monetary Theory: Are deficit hawks an endangered species?
Where have all the deficit hawks gone? With mainstream politicians no longer comparing government finances to household saving habits, it appears that a new wave of fiscal spending is on the horizon.      This is part of a growing debate around Modern Monetary Theory, also known as MMT or “a dangerous proposition” if you’re the ECB, about why spending should only be constrained by inflation, ho...
22m Jul 24, 2019
22m
60: In Conversation With Sonja Laud, Chief Investment Officer
Sonja brings a wealth of experiences to her new role as Chief Investment Officer. But at school, her dream job would have been to become a professional horse-rider and fill her time with dressage and show jumping. An apprenticeship at Deutsche Bank introduced her to the world of finance but it was internships at DWS, a consulting practice and in marketing for a not-for-profit organisation which...
22m Jul 17, 2019
22m
59: DB: Managing risk in turbulent times
We’d all love to predict with pinpoint accuracy the timing of any future bouts of volatility and the impact it would have for schemes’ returns. In turbulent times, investing can be like an endless game of ‘whack-a-mole’ – as one risk is removed, another can come to light. While fortune-telling might not yet be an exact science, there are still a number of methods defined benefit schemes can emp...
21m Jul 10, 2019
21m
58: Engaging the nation through technology, with Helena Morrissey
The responsibility for people’s financial futures has increasingly been transferred to the individual yet a broad majority of the population remain wary of investing. Asset managers, advisers and pension schemes need to emotionally engage people to make investing not only relevant but also appealing. Technology is by no means the panacea to this challenge but it can be a crucial component of th...
17m Jul 03, 2019
17m
57: Forecasting the next downturn, with Justin Onuekwusi and Emiel van den Heiligenberg
Question: Are people at parties talking to you about stocks?    If the answer is ‘yes’ then (1) you could be going to the wrong sorts of parties or, more likely, (2) this could be a qualitative indicator that the economy is in ‘bubble’ territory.   This episode looks at the ways investors can use quantitative and qualitative indicators to try and forecast the next economic recession. After a va...
24m Jun 27, 2019
24m
56: ESG and the Independent Governance Committee: How FCA changes will affect your scheme
How will the FCA clarification that environmental, social and governance (or ESG) considerations are “financially material” risks affect the IGC’s approach to scheme oversight?  Daniel Godfrey, LGIM IGC member and former chief executive of the Investment Association, discusses what the IGC’s expanded powers mean, what LGIM’s approach to ESG integration means for pensions, and future risks and o...
28m Jun 19, 2019
28m
55: Absolute return “a genre, not a sector”, with Richard Romer-Lee, Square Mile
The target absolute return sector has been unloved to say the least. With the offer of ‘investment nirvana’, as Square Mile’s Richard Romer-Lee puts it, these funds look to reduce volatility and still deliver performance in difficult markets.      In this conversation, I sat down with Richard and LGIM’s own Head of UK Retail Distribution, James Crossley, to discuss whether this is a ‘genre, not...
28m Jun 13, 2019
28m
54: In conversation with: Honor Solomon, Head of Retail, EMEA
Working in her father’s London clothes shop taught Honor two things: that she loved meeting people from all over the world, and that she also loved to sell. In her time in sales teams over her career, she has sought to surround herself with a talented team with great culture – a key combination which helps push everyone to perform to the best of their ability.     In this episode of In Conversa...
25m Jun 07, 2019
25m
53: How boards can work best – Sacha Sadan, Director of Corporate Governance
Good governance is crucial to all boards, whether they oversee a FTSE 100 multinational, a multi-billion pound pension scheme or a national charity. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to how boards should be run but through Sacha and his team’s extensive experience in corporate engagement, they’ve learned that there are plenty of ways to evolve and enhance effectiveness.    We know that pre...
34m Jun 05, 2019
34m
52: Lord Stern at the LSE: The urgency, opportunity and acceleration of climate action
We’ve heard a lot about the need for urgent climate action in the past few months. Sobering documentaries from David Attenborough and hard-hitting activism from Greta Thunberg and the Extinction Rebellion have brought the issue to the forefront of people’s minds. Investors have a pivotal role in meeting the challenge of financing the transition to a low-carbon future and in finding the wealth o...
27m May 29, 2019
27m