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daniel_ung

Daniel Ung

Former Director, Global Research & Design

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Apr 13, 2017

Active Fund Management in South Africa Continued to Struggle in 2016

Equity markets in South Africa, as measured by the S&P South Africa Domestic Shareholder Weighted (DSW) Index ZAR, increase 5% in 2016.  Aside from the GDP contraction experienced in the last quarter of 2016, conditions were generally improving in the country.  For example, the South African rand strengthened during the year and the municipal elections…

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Apr 4, 2017

Active Management Underperformance in 2016 Generally Higher Than in Previous Years

European equity markets, as measured by the S&P Europe 350, went up 3.44% in 2016, yet the average performance of active managers invested in Europe was negative, whether measured on an asset-weighted or equal-weighted basis.  Over the one-year period, more than 80% of active managers invested in European equities underperformed their respective S&P DJI benchmark….

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Jan 5, 2017

A New Metric for Smart Beta: The Cost-Adjusted Factor Efficiency Ratio

With an increasing number of smart beta strategies that track the same factor in the marketplace, it is more important than ever to understand the underlying drivers of risk and return of these strategies, which can vary greatly.  This is because the underlying portfolio construction of these strategies determines risk and return and, ultimately, the…

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Nov 16, 2016

SPIVA® South Africa: Active Equity Funds Followed the Global Trend—They Underperformed

South African equity markets have once again performed poorly, especially in comparison with global equity markets.  One reason for this drab performance was that its GDP contracted 1.2% in the first quarter, although the price of gold—one of the country’s key exports—increased and the South African rand recovered somewhat with respect to other currencies. Poor…

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Oct 25, 2016

SPIVA® Europe Mid-Year 2016: Performance of Active Managers Has Been Disappointing This Year

European equity markets fared poorly over the one-year period ending June 30, 2016, with the S&P Europe 350® decreasing 10.47%.  This underwhelming performance was brought on by heightened volatility following the U.K.’s vote to exit the European Union, as well as the negative interest rate policy in Europe.  Normally, these conditions might be considered ideal…

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Apr 12, 2016

How Did South African Active Managers Perform in 2015?

In 2015, equity markets in South Africa were turbulent amid falling commodity prices and the depreciation of the South African rand.  Political uncertainty surrounding the appointment of the country’s finance minister and the lowering of the country’s debt rating by leading rating agencies also contributed to the lackluster performance of equities.  This may partly explain…

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Mar 23, 2016

Long-Term Underperformance of European Active Management continues to play out in the active versus passive debate.

Every six months, S&P Dow Jones Indices publishes the S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA®) Europe Scorecard, which seeks to compare the performance of actively managed equity funds across different categories, and in the SPIVA Europe Year-End 2015 Scorecard, we expanded it to cover more individual countries and regions.  Among the new additions are Italy, the…

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Mar 10, 2016

Resource Efficiency: A Step Beyond Climate Change

In recent years, there has been much focus on the importance of climate change and how much greenhouse gas is produced in the process of conducting business.  While managing greenhouse gases is an important focus, is the future more about increasing efficiency across different depletable resources, such as water? Because the demand across different scarce…

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Jan 19, 2016

Understanding the Risk and Return Drivers of Smart Beta Strategies

Within the passive investment arena, smart beta strategies have witnessed a substantial growth in assets, and there is now a swathe of such strategies in the marketplace, many of which bear similar names and share similar objectives.  One may therefore expect that all these strategies are similar and that any differences would only elicit interest…

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Nov 5, 2015

How Have South African Active Fund Managers Performed?

The performance of the South African equities market has been lackluster as a result of poor employment data, weak consumer confidence, and continued power shortages.  This has led to an underperformance of approximately 5% in ZAR-denominated domestic equities, as measured by the S&P South Africa Domestic Shareholder Weighted (DSW) Index, compared with global equities. Equities:…

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