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Central bank reserves are continuing to grow, however, the strategies for managing them are becoming trickier. Encouraged by a low bond yield environment, public investors are increasingly tempted to diversify away from traditional allocation strategies focused on fixed income and expand into a wider range of assets. There has been a particularly strong shift from sovereign funds and public pension funds into real estate and infrastructure assets.
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At the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England, the long march back to policy normality is beginning to gather pace. Furthermore, we will see shifts in leadership of all three institutions in the next two years, as current governors depart at the end of their terms.
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OMFIF publishes a weekly podcast featuring input from a range of academic experts, central bankers and investment professionals focusing on important areas pertaining to monetary policy and public investment themes. Click to browse the library, with topics including ESG, globalisation, political risk, fintech and green finance.
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The annual Gender Balance Index tracks the presence of men and women in senior positions of public financial institutions globally, weighted by seniority. The 2018 edition of the Gender Balance Index expands the analysis to sovereign funds and public pension funds. Follow the link below to download the report.
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A defining characteristic of the past two years has been the rise of protectionist rhetoric in key advanced markets like the US and UK. Other parts of the world, though, remain committed to the globalisation agenda, led by China and greater integration in emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Read moreI was a diplomat for nearly 40 years, writes David Warren, and spent much of that time promoting British trade and attracting FDI. Membership of the EU single market and customs union was a magnet for the latter, and no hindrance to the former. For the UK, dispensing with these benefits would be an act of self-harm.
'Unelected Power', from Paul Tucker, former Bank of England deputy governor, ranges over the risks of untrammelled growth in central bank powers after the financial crisis and the need to constrain them in a series of agency agreements fully intertwined into the fabric of elected government, writes David Marsh.
Low bonds yields, declining oil prices, quantitative easing, low interest rates, slow productivity growth and aging populations have led to heated debate over which asset classes public investors should pursue, writes Ben Robinson. It has also helped the shift into alternatives such as property and infrastructure.
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation becomes law on 25 May. No company collecting and processing EU individuals' data is exempt, warns Sarah Butler. Penalties for non-compliance are up to €20m, or 4% of annual turnover. OMFIF has redefined its data-processing activities to demonstrate best practice.
If ever there was a country in need of IMF aid, it is Argentina, writes Desmond Lachman. The peso is in free fall, and the government's credibility has been undermined by its attempts to curb the central bank's independence. The last thing Latin America needs is for Argentina to spiral out of control.
With rising inflation and a tightened labour market putting upward pressure on wage growth, it is unsurprising that some analysts expect the Fed to lift rates four times this year. At the same time, the Fed's long-term plan to shrink its unprecedently large balance sheet is in its sixth month, writes Otaviano Canuto.
Because of a handful of British parliamentarians, the UK's Brexit process is now more convoluted than ever, only 10 months away from the formal date of departure. Local elections in England on 3 May, which broadly confirmed the political status quo, have if anything deepened the stalemate, writes Chris Ostrowski.
German economists are debating what would happen to Target-2 intra-euro area imbalances if a member country left Europe's economic and monetary union. They are suggesting a framework to transform these imbalances into a collectable debt or credit that would be settled by the departing state, says Marcello Minenna.
National Bank of Romania - OMFIF Economists Meeting
Tue 22 May 2018
POLICY | Bucharest
Launch of the fifth annual Global Public Investor
Wed 23 May 2018
CITY LECTURES AND LAUNCHES | London
Japan-Britain political economy roundtable with Sir Simon McDonald, FCO
Mon 11 Jun 2018
JUNE
Roundtable with Paul Tucker, former deputy governor for financial stability, Bank of England
Wed 13 Jun 2018
JUNE | London
City lecture with Anil Kashyap, Bank of England
Wed 13 Jun 2018
JUNE | London
Asset and risk management forum
Thu 14 Jun 2018
INVESTMENT
An OMFIF symposium looked at the necessary institutional reinforcement of Europe’s economic and monetary union in the light of political changes in France and Germany over the past 12 months. Photos include Jacques de Larosière, former Managing Director of the IMF, Elisa Ferreira, Vice Governor of Banco de Portugal and Jean-Claude Trichet, former President, European Central Bank.
The world is experiencing one of the longest economic expansions since records began and there's no end in sight, with muted inflationary pressures keeping interest rates low. Stock markets like this not too hot, not too cold 'Goldilocks' backdrop.
Global infrastructure financing has fallen short of its potential.Private sector investment and institutional investor capital are often raised as possible solutions for filling the infrastructure funding gap.
Productivity and economic growth continue to disappoint in most countries. Although analysts show a great deal of concern for the so-called 'productivity puzzle', little attention is paid to the real solution: freer markets and increased competition.
Stock prices have been rising for more than eight years, but bull markets don't die of old age. There are few signs of the excessive growth, valuation or financial leverage that usually signal the approach of a bear market. With interest rates below inflation, it is unsurprising that money continues to flow into markets.
The poll for this month focuses on the future of bitcoin. Participants were asked: ‘Will the bitcoin market crash exponentially and if so, when?’
