Connecting the Dots
For investment professionals only. This podcast presents the views of M&G's investment professionals as they discuss investment opportunities, asset classes, and markets. Each episode offers insights into current market conditions and potential investment strategies. It is aimed at professional investors seeking expert perspectives on global financial topics.
Episodes
CIO Mid-Year Outlook 2026: Adapting to the new investment landscape
From the evolving AI story to an inflationary backdrop, M&G Investments’ CIOs dissect a complex market where traditional rules of investing appear to be breaking down. Find out where they see risks and opportunities across equities, fixed income and private markets, and why they emphasise the importance of selectivity, diversification and a more dynamic approach to asset allocation in the se
CIO Mid-Year Outlook 2026: Adapting to the new investment landscape
From the evolving AI story to an inflationary backdrop, M&G Investments’ CIOs dissect a complex market where traditional rules of investing appear to be breaking down. Find out where they see risks and opportunities across equities, fixed income and private markets, and why they emphasise the importance of selectivity, diversification and a more dynamic approach to asset allocation in the se
CIO 2025 outlook – and why growth’s the elephant in the room
With growth top of the agenda for investors moving into 2025, join M&G Investments’ CIOs for their outlook amid a number of macroeconomic effects at play. They deliberate on growth, the Trump presidency and tariffs given the potential implications for global geopolitics, inflation – and prospective market opportunities.
Speakers:
Fabiana Fedeli, CIO, Equities, Multi-Asset and Sustainability
US elections – what are investors watching?
In a year of global elections, the main stage has been set and all eyes are now on the White House and Congress in the US. In this episode, Anthony Balestrieri and Tony Finding discuss what investors are keeping a close watch on – from the bearing that election outcomes have on the global economic trajectory to fiscal expenditure and the ever-present market disciplinary forces.
Speakers:
Anthon
Misconceptions and opportunities in ABS
A misconception that asset-backed securities (ABS) is largely the experience that the US subprime market went through during the global financial crisis still exists. In this episode, Matt Wardle and Harry Bullamore dispel the misconceptions around ABS which, once cleared, pave the way for investors to allocate to it, consider the uniquely defensive aspects of the asset class and where it sits fro
Mid-year investment perspectives with three CIOs
Each month experts from across our global network of investors will join us to bring you their views across equities, fixed income and private markets. This debut episode features investment perspectives from M&G Investments’ three Chief Investment Officers (CIOs) at the mid-way point of 2024.
Click here to access the full Investment Perspectives Mid-Year 2024 Outlook.
Speakers:
Fabiana Fedeli
The return of equity income
Post-Global Financial Crisis, income investing in equities found itself in the wilderness. The only way to outperform between 2010 and 2020 was to be at the growth-end of the spectrum. But that all changed abruptly in 2022 with spiralling inflation and rising interest rates. In this episode, Stuart Rhodes, Global Dividend Fund Manager, and Alex Araujo, Global Listed Infrastructure Fund Manager, co
The long-term megatrend of European private asset-backed finance
While Europe’s private asset-backed finance markets have been growing in importance for a number of years, it's only in recent years where we've seen the regulatory pressures that banks are facing come to the fore, fuelling a strong desire to shrink balance sheets and increase capital.
This has created a wealth of opportunities, with a significant number of transactions coming to market almost eve
The great global election cycle
As billions of people vote in national elections in 2024, including seven of the world’s 10 most populous nations, our panel of cross asset class experts looks at the issues and potential unique and overlapping implications at play across developed and emerging markets – from the US and UK to South Africa and Mexico. They also analyse what asset allocators are watching, including the influence of
A brief history of real estate – and what’s back in fashion
History offers useful lessons, as a plethora of adages often remind us. In the first episode of 2024, Jose Pellicer Global Head of Investment Strategy and Richard Gwilliam, Head of Research at M&G Real Estate, kick off the new year with a brief look at real estate throughout recent history – from a world of high inflation and interest rates in the 1980s to rock bottom interest rates Post-GFC –
CIO perspectives on what lies ahead in 2024
M&G’s CIOs Jim Leaviss and Fabiana Fedeli share their perspectives for 2024, considering how to potentially drive returns through the uncertainty ahead, and highlighting the importance of being selective in a challenging economic environment.
Speakers:
Fabiana Fedeli, Chief Investment Officer, Equities, Multi-Asset and Sustainability
Jim Leaviss, Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income
Host
Dissecting the gilt crisis fallout
Just over a year has passed since the gilt market turmoil of September 2022, sparked by the UK government’s so-called ‘mini-budget’. The fallout from the crisis, as the pound fell and gilt yields spiked, prompted an emergency intervention by the Bank of England to restore orderly market conditions against a global backdrop of high inflation and rising interest rates. A significant change in asset
The state of play in European private credit
Risk assets have repriced over the past year due to financial-market volatility and higher-than-usual levels of uncertainty surrounding issues such as terminal rates, inflation, geopolitics and economic growth. Consequently, we believe private credit currently offers unusually high potential returns while retaining its traditional defensive characteristics of low duration and security.
However,
An Introduction to Significant Risk Transfer
The Significant Risk Transfer (SRT) market currently offers a compelling alternative to traditional asset classes given high levels of inflation, according to James King, Head of Structured Credit at M&G Investments. SRT transactions involve a high element of risk but coupons that have the potential to range up to the high teens provide significant compensation, whilst the floating-rate nature
Catering to subtleties across the housing spectrum
Housing needs are defined by age profiles and can be split into five categories. The needs will often be driven by the activities that are likely to be pursued by that cohort, as well as cultural values. For example, we installed larger-than-usual freezer storage space in our student accommodation in Bologna, Italy, given that students will often arrive at university with a year’s worth of frozen
Infrastructure – an industrial revolution?
Investing in infrastructure has historically been about existing, stable and secure assets. In recent years, there has been a concerted effort to drive towards sustainable sources of power and energy needs and have resilient local infrastructure. In this instalment, Martin Lennon and Ed Clarke of Infracapital discuss the rise of a whole new set of opportunities, the relationship between the asset
European High Yield – changing perceptions
To what extent do European High Yield markets represent good value at the moment and is now an attractive entry point? In this instalment, David Parsons and David Fancourt look at how European High Yield compares to Investment Grade, as well as its counterpart in the US, which has traditionally been the market of choice. They also consider market evolution and compensation for taking credit risk.
What does good ESG in ABS look like?
The evolution and implementation of ESG across asset classes has not been homogenous, and it resonates more so with corporate debt and equities when compared with specialised asset classes, such as ABS. What has been observed in the marketplace is a development of good outputs for corporates and equities, but with less of a focus on ABS, investors have been left to devise their own strategies. Thi
Dissecting the real estate and recession dynamic
With a third of the global economy expected to fall into recession in 2023, Jose Pellicer considers previous recessions of 1991 and the Global Financial Crisis, which were succeeded by some of real estate’s finest 8-year returns. He also looks at what happens to the price of risk during economic contraction and how investors can seize the real estate opportunity to bank the recovery when it arrive
CIO perspectives on 2023 and the inflation equation conundrum
M&G’s CIOs, Fabiana Fedeli, Will Nicoll and Jim Leaviss share their views as we head into 2023, discussing valuation opportunities, the depth of a potential recession – and how much closer we are to the light at the end of the tunnel of rate hikes and rising inflation.
Speakers:
Fabiana Fedeli, Chief Investment Officer, Equities, Multi-Asset and Sustainability
Will Nicoll, Chief Investment Offic
The case for adding to risk in credit markets
Credit markets have been front and centre stage as the events of 2022 unfolded. With much of the economic bad news now priced in, David Parsons and Richard Ryan analyse what risks investors need to be aware of in the current environment, the case for building into risk now and being sufficiently compensated for taking it at these levels.
Speaker: Richard Ryan, Senior Credit Portfolio Manager
Hos
Time to allocate to mispriced consumer finance opportunities?
Imagine a new global financial crisis (GFC) materialising every year from here. The market seems focused on the fact that it will get tougher for consumers, and is in some cases pricing in default rates equivalent to GFC levels of stress, for years to come. It is, however, all a question of magnitude when underwriting pools of performing consumer finance assets. In this episode, Jerome Henrion and
What next after the summer rally in bonds and equities?
Fixed income and equity markets face being influenced by inputs from all angles, making this no market for broad macro calls. As sweeping bets err into extreme risk exposure, Fabiana Fedeli dissects the virtues of being tactical and selective in an uncertain environment where inflation has reached multi-decade highs.
Speaker: Fabiana Fedeli, Chief Investment Officer for Equities and Multi Asset
How much inflation protection can real estate offer?
Like every asset class, the real estate sector is grappling with spiralling inflation and rising interest rates. In times like these, real estate has traditionally been seen as a hedge against inflation, but does it still hold true in the context of what has driven today's inflationary picture?
Host: Romil Patel, Senior Editorial Manager
Speaker: Jose Pellicer, Head of Investment Strategy – Real
Key growth drivers for private markets
With interest rates, inflation and growth out of kilter, the world is in an extraordinary place. While it may be difficult to see exactly where and how to invest, periods of volatility do also throw up opportunity. In this CIO special, Will Nicoll considers the two big growth engines for private markets that will fundamentally reshape various economies around the globe.
Host: Romil Patel, Senior
Spiralling inflation…this wasn’t supposed to happen
In major economies inflation is approaching double figures and already setting 40-year, or more, highs. This wasn’t supposed to happen but the reality is that it is. In this episode, David Parsons and David Lloyd discuss the once comfortable coalition between central bankers and politicians, the prospect of achieving positive real returns and how fixed income can mitigate the cost of de-risking.
The mysterious case of the missing distressed deal
As the world tried to make sense of the pandemic, a record number of distress funds hit the road to raise capital in the expectation of an avalanche of investment opportunities – but this expectation soon failed to meet reality. Riccardo Cumerlato, Mustafa van Hien and Biliana Sourlekova investigate what happened to the missing deal.
Host: Riccardo Cumerlato, Client Director, Restructuring and D
Opening routes of exposure to consumer assets
Traditionally an area dominated by banks, consumer lending is a well-established asset class, but what’s new is that asset owners can now get access to these assets. In this episode, Jerome Henrion guides us through the diversification benefits, inflationary advantages in the current environment, making sense of a heavily data-intensive asset class with more than a billion data points and the key
Weathering the inflation storm
Inflation has proved to be anything but transitory. In this episode, David Parsons and David Lloyd discuss the economic impact of an evolving inflationary environment, the implications of supply-constrained inflation feeding into policy, the varying scope for manoeuvre from central banks around the world and why patience is key.
Host: David Parsons, Head – Public Debt Investment Specialist Team
Adding value to high-quality assets in complex situations
As lockdown restrictions lift and economies reopen, Jose Pellicer, Paul Crosbie and Andrew Amos survey the value add landscape and what this means for occupiers and discerning investors. Plus – what does it take to navigate high-quality real estate assets out of complex situations?
Host:
Romil Patel, Senior Editorial Manager
Speakers:
Jose Pellicer, Head of Investment Strategy, M&G Real Estate
Inflation – is it beyond transitory and now structural?
With inflation sitting at the core of many issues that investors are grappling with today, David Parsons sits down with Miles Tym and Richard Ryan to consider the pacing of central bank policies to tackle this rising concerns, the potential danger points following interest rate hikes and how an evolving environment might impact a wider range of bond assets, specifically corporate bonds.
Host: Davi
Taking Asian real estate assets to another level in 2022
In an era of generally steep pricing, the focus is on real estate quality to cater to a variety of specific cultural and geographical requirements. Jose Pellicer and Richard van den Berg explore this, plus the nuances of doing business in Asia Pacific – and much more in the latest episode.
Host: Romil Patel, Editorial Manager
Speakers: Jose Pellicer, Head of Investment Strategy & Richard van de
Is the inflation genie out of the bottle?
With higher inflation now a global phenomenon, the extent of its pick-up varies from country to country. David Parsons and Miles Tym explore the localised responses, whether Gen X will be Gen debt and above all – whether inflation is here to stay.
Host: David Parsons, Head – Public Debt Investment Specialist Team
Speaker: Miles Tym, Senior Portfolio Manager – Government Bonds
For Investment P
Tailor-made. Customising Real Estate development loans
The concept of real estate lending has been around for centuries and continues to evolve. In this episode, Riccardo Cumerlato chats with the investment team about potential new opportunities in underserved corners of the real estate market and how the innovative tailoring of loans to unique project requirements can help make a difference to people’s lives.
Host: Riccardo Cumerlato, Client Director
A focus on European real estate
How has the asset mix changed in European real estate? What should investors in the sector look for when selecting partners to work with them, and how is European real estate likely to evolve as requirements of property change and environmental considerations increase in importance? Jose Pellicer is joined by David Jackson as he reflects on 30 years of fund management.
Host: Jose Pellicer, Head of
A golden age for infrastructure?
What are the global themes responsible for driving and reshaping the modern infrastructure landscape? How can infrastructure investment play a part in supporting a wide range of ambitions, from decarbonisation, to digitisation? As the world transitions from the rhetoric of ESG commitments, to following up with action and data, we invite our colleagues at Infracapital, to discuss these trends and m
The democratisation of private assets
Private assets have been steadily growing in popularity in recent years, with estimates that global alternative assets under management will have grown from 10 trillion dollars at the end of 2020, to 17 trillion dollars by 2025. So, what is it that makes private assets so attractive to clients? Why are they so useful as part of an investment portfolios? How can the issues of liquidity and complexi
Inflation - is it real?
From the ‘Great Moderation’ of the 1980’s, to the current day, the inflation environment has been relatively benign, with the policies of recent years mostly concerned with preventing deflation. However, as economies begin to rebound from the Covid crisis, inflation has ticked up. Is the current rise in inflation transitory, or could we see Central banks move to tighten policy? David Parsons and D
Sustainability in private credit - can the two go hand in hand?
While sustainability has been most obviously implemented within public markets, appetite from investors to access private market opportunities has grown. With fewer disclosure requirements, and challenges in providing tangible evidence and data that prove the sustainability of business operations, can allocations to private credit be coherent with a desire to increase sustainability in investment?
Global Real Estate Outlook
Our latest episode of The Investment Podcast takes a closer look at real estate as we navigate the road to recovery from the pandemic. We discuss the outlook across different sectors and geographies, globally – which could see rapid growth and which may lag behind – whilst taking account of the ‘good old’ business cycle. We also explore the potential impact of inflation on the asset class.
Host: J
The folly of forecasting - finding value in an uncertain world
There has been significant positive momentum in credit markets since the Covid crisis began, underpinned by unprecedented levels of government and central bank support. However, despite market expectations of a sharp rebound in economic activity, there remain significant risks to this view. Notably, what happens as the stimulus packages are wound down - how will markets respond? What does the stru
Investment in music copyrights? Now, that's music to my ears...
How do we find a private special situations investment? What kind of work do we do before making such an investment? What is our role once the initial investment is completed?
In this podcast Riccardo Cumerlato, Client Director at M&G Investments, sits down with Fund Manager, Andrew Amos, to talk about an innovative investment in the area of music copyright royalties and how M&G has taken a differ
Real Estate: Building a more sustainable future
As ESG continues to develop its role in society, we evaluate the awakening of the real estate industry to ESG issues and how things might look in 2050. What are the net zero commitments? Will the real estate sector conform to a standardised approach to certification? Are social issues being overlooked in real estate? Or is this an aspect of ESG that is a growing trend? Hear from Jose Pellicer and
Real Estate: A closer look at 2021
Welcome to The Investment Podcast.
As we enter 2021, we examine some of the narratives that have emerged from the real estate sector during 2020 and how much truth there may be to them in the coming year. Has COVID-19 caused a permanent shift? How will the retail sector continue to evolve? What is the outlook for the industrial sector?
Host: Jose Pellicer, Head of Investment Strategy, M&G Real Est
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