The sixth annual World Pensions Forum was held on 23-24 February 2017 at the Queen's House in the Royal Borough of Greenwich.Over 120 representatives attended: from pension and sovereign funds, central banks and government agencies including financial regulators. Topics discussed included...

The last weeks of 2018 have set new records in net new institutional investment flows into infrastructure funds, with more generalist private equity and investment management players joining this strategic asset class par excellence, as the trend is likely to continue well into 2019 – 2020.The...

We distill evidence about the effects of COVID-19 on companies. Stock price reactions to the shock differed greatly across firms, depending on their resilience to social distancing, financial flexibility, and corporate culture. The same characteristics affected the response of firms' sales,...

This paper discusses the empirical literature on the economic consequences of disclosure and financial reporting regulation (including IFRS adoption), drawing on U.S. and international evidence. Given the policy relevance of research on regulation, we highlight the challenges with: (i)...

This paper discusses the empirical literature on the economic consequences of disclosure and financial reporting regulation, drawing on U.S. and international evidence. Given the policy relevance of research on regulation, we highlight the challenges with (1) quantifying regulatory costs and...

One of the enduring principles of federal securities regulation is the mantra that bonds are securities, while commercial loans are not. Yet the corporate bond and loan markets in the U.S. are rapidly converging, putting significant pressure on the disparity in their regulatory treatment. As...

The hedge fund industry represents a significant and viable alternative for mainstream investment business clientèle, as well as a growing number of sophisticated high net worth individuals. The hedge fund raison d'être has been relative independence of other (more traditional) asset classes...

This paper shows that analyst recommendations aggregated at the country level predict international stock market returns. A trading strategy based on past country-level recommendations yields an abnormal return of around 0.9 percent per month. Aggregate analyst recommendations also predict...