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A Factor-Based Approach to Munis in Turbulent Times 

Tracking municipal-bond benchmarks can mean evaluating hundreds of thousands of securities along many dimensions, such as credit ratings. We evaluate an alternative, factor-model-based approach. 

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Location Matters: Using Geospatial Analysis to Assess Biodiversity Risks 

A quarter of animal and plant species could face extinction heightening economic risks from biodiversity loss. Investors and issuers focusing on asset location and dedicated risk management practices could mitigate some of these challenges.

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China at a Crossroads: Three Scenarios for Investors 

The recent COVID-19 lockdowns in China and their impact on global supply chains add another concern for investors, on top of the Russia-Ukraine war. We model three scenarios for China and their potential spillover effects on global portfolios.

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Wildfire Risks and Costs for Companies 

Wildfires can potentially increase costs from physical risks for companies, making it an important consideration for investors as they manage risk in their portfolios. Our analysis revealed four future hotspots with elevated annual fire probabilitie

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Russian Bonds: Rolling Back the Default Clock 

Fixed Income

The Russian government’s decision on April 29 to pay holders of two dollar-denominated Russian sovereign bonds led to a major rally, encouraging some investors that Russia may avoid default. There are, however, more challenges ahead. 

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Low Carbon 𝙖𝙣𝙙 High Liquidity for Bond Investors? 

ESG Research , Fixed Income

As corporate-bond investors embrace decarbonization as a goal in portfolio construction and management and benchmark selection, the question arises whether decarbonization targets are at odds with other desirable index attributes, such as liquidity.

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Russian Bonds: Sifting Through Sectors 

Russian bond market losses have cut deep. Still, certain sectors fared better than others. The question now is how trade policy and sanctions may be shifting, and whether there may be greater impact on sectors that have shown relative strength.

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Which Scope 3 Emissions Will the SEC Deem ‘Material’? 

The SEC’s climate-disclosure proposals did not set a “materiality threshold” for Scope 3 emissions, and the commission is considering either quantitative analysis for a uniform approach or letting companies determine materiality. How might each affect transparency?

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Real Estate's Income Risk in an Inflationary World 

Although real estate income returns have tended to be stable in aggregate, the right-hand chart below illustrates the extent to which they have varied across individual properties in the MSCI Pan-European Quarterly Property Fund Index (PEPFI).

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Sanctions Bring a New Form of Russian-Bond CDS Risk 

Sanctions on Russia have not affected credit-default swaps directly, but the settlement process following a default would rely on delivering and auctioning the sanctioned bonds. We examine this new form of recovery risk.