Blog posts

We look into the economic risks of employing factor-style strategies such as those in the STOXX Factor Indices, by screening them through Axioma’s Macroeconomic Projection model. The findings show that some styles have more economic exposure than others, and that macro variables can be correlated with industry, country and style factors, to different degrees.

The FAANGs — Facebook (now Meta), Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google (i.e., Alphabet) — are having an annus horribilis. But they still have gains to show for the past three years, and, importantly for investors, the group’s influence on the US market has only decreased so much.

The STOXX Global 1800 index rose 7.1% in dollars last month, after falling to a two-year low. While most economists rightly forecast the Federal Reserve’s fourth consecutive hike of 75 basis points on Nov. 2, speculation grew during October that the central bank could indicate it would slow the pace of monetary tightening.

The customized index is an optimized solution that balances multiple investment objectives and uses various inputs, including LGIM’s proprietary ESG data.

Dutch pension fund manager APG, which co-designed the responsible-investment indices with Qontigo, has received an award from Pensioen Pro for its pioneering work following the introduction of the indices.

ESG funds can target very different objectives and their names mean very different things. So, what, in reality, are their overall achievements when it comes to broad sustainability metrics? What active risk are investors taking on to accomplish them? And can optimization help balance sustainability and risk? A new whitepaper from Qontigo examines these matters.

This article aims to provide an update on the responsible-investing characteristics of the iSTOXX APG World Responsible Indices, and reaffirm that the process continues to create indices with substantial improvement in sustainability criteria without straying too much from the parent benchmark.

While ETF strategies focusing on the environment and general ESG have captured 39 billion euros this year, little to no money has gone to funds targeting principally social and governance issues, according to data from Qontigo’s Market Intelligence Team.

Saumya Mehrotra from Qontigo’s Sustainable Investment team joined a panel of experts during the recent Sustainable Investment Forum North America in New York, to discuss how ESG data and applications are evolving. In her words, while sustainability information is becoming more specialized, so are investors’ approaches to it.

At the Sustainable Investment Forum North America 2022, Saumya Mehrotra, Associate Principal, Sustainable Investment shares how the combination of our open ESG data and architecture, index platform and analytic capabilities enable our clients on their journey to full sustainability integration.

The STOXX Global 1800 index dropped 9.3% in dollars last month, taking its retreat in 2022 to 25.5%. The Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England increased the cost of borrowing in the month, with the first two hiking by a larger-than-average 75 basis points.

Lukas Smart, Head of US iShares Sustainable and Factors Product Segments, and Arun Singhal, Global Head of Index Product Management at STOXX, discuss the recent update to BlackRock’s multi-factor offering and the outlook for factor investing.