Sustainable Global Equity, Annual Report 2022-23
Highlights include: Thematic focus #1: How can AI help address the UN SDGs? Thematic focus #2: Circular economy and waste management Market and performance review: One of the defining characteristics of the first half of 2023 was ‘narrowness’ of returns, with the majority of performance being driven by a small number of tech-focused mega cap […]
Spectrum Q3 2023: No robots were harmed in the making of this report
In a 1962 collection of short stories, sci-fi sage Arthur C Clarke postulated his third law, that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Now, as we push through the second decade of the 21st century and into a future seemingly set up for AI, Clarke’s law appears more apt than ever. Through the […]
Sustainable fixed income: Five questions answered
Question one: How does engagement in fixed income work in practice? It’s a myth that engagement in the realm of fixed income is less effective than for equities. Our multi-decade experience of deep engagement with companies issuing debt illustrates this – and we have a solid track record that underlines how effective engagement can be […]
Meet the Manager: Orla Garvey
What’s your role at Federated Hermes? I’m a portfolio manager in our credit team, and joined Federated Hermes in June of 2022. I co-manage our Sustainable Investment Grade product with a particular focus on rates and inflation-linked markets. How did you get started in your career? In truth, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted […]
360°, Q2 2023
Divergence, duration, dislocation
Overlooked and underappreciated: The case for Korea
At the end of May 2023, the Federated Hermes Asia ex-Japan Strategy’s key country active overweight remains Korea, at +13.96% relative to benchmark, whereas the strategy’s main underweight is India, sitting at 16.83% below the benchmark, as shown by Figure 1 below.1 We prefer Korean stocks because they currently present very cheap valuations amid improving […]
Putting the ‘investment’ in investment grade credit
Why now? Yields are at decade highs: Yields, which sit at almost 5% for the global investment grade market, are looking very attractive. Historically, and looking at the past decade in particular, yields are now at the highest level seen for the investment grade market, as demonstrated in Figure 1 below. This indicates that a […]
Sustainable Global Equity Report, Q1 2023
China’s ‘great reopening’
Lifting the lid on packaging and food waste
Plastic packaging has a key role to play in the global food system, protecting perishable items and extending the shelf life of fresh produce. However, this is exacerbating the problem of plastic pollution, with progress to reduce plastic waste driven mainly by recycling, rather than the elimination of single-use plastic. Estimates published by climate action […]
Protect, sustain, restore: Why the Amazon matters
Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Dr Adriana De Palma, Dr Gareth E Thomas, Sara Contu, and Prof. Andy Purvis from the Natural History Museum for providing the data and analysis contained within this report. The Amazon rainforest, home to some 10% of known species on earth, is a lynchpin for global biodiversity. Here, the […]
