Investment Strategies

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• Three Factors Shaping the Opportunity in European Private Credit

  The growing importance of market access, a wider investor base and the impact of ESG on pricing are reshaping the European middle market.

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• North American Private Credit: Expectations vs. Reality

  The impact of COVID on North American private credit has been surprising in some ways and more predictable in others. Ian Fowler sheds light on lessons learned over the past year and offers advice on how to navigate today’s market.

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• Distressed Debt: The Opportunities Surfacing in COVID's Wake

  Barings’ Stuart Mathieson and Bryan High provide insight into today’s distressed debt market, including their expectations for defaults, an overview of the competitive landscape, and where the next opportunities may emerge across the U.S. and Europe.

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• ASEAN Equities: “Opportunities in Every Crisis”

  Barings’ SooHai Lim discusses the dynamics shaping ASEAN equities today, from lessons learned from the pandemic to the structural trends supporting the region.

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• Emerging Markets Equity: Evolving and Transforming

  Technological innovation, an increasingly confident consumer and a growing focus on ESG are re-shaping the long-term growth opportunity in emerging market equities.

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• The Structural and Cyclical Case for U.S. Real Estate Debt

  While the ongoing disruption from the pandemic will put downward pressure on market fundamentals until the virus is no longer a threat, opportunities will likely emerge across the risk-return spectrum in advance of a recovery in demand and property income.

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• Private Credit: Boring is (Still) Beautiful

  Barings' Ian Fowler discusses the current state of the North American private credit market, including insights into deal activity, pricing, and how the Barings team is investing through the pandemic.

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• Are the Most Compelling Post-COVID Opportunities in Offices?

  Property investors and their lenders are shifting down the risk curve and becoming highly selective about sector exposures and asset quality. The Barings Real Estate team weighs in on the opportunity set—and why the overall outlook remains positive.

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• Winter is Here, But Spring is Coming

  With additional fiscal relief and steady progress in vaccinations in the first half of 2021, the U.S. economy should be regaining momentum by the end of Q2, helping to stabilize real estate demand in the second half of the year. The Barings Real Estate team weighs in.

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• Four Themes for Insurance Asset Management in 2021

  Insurers have fared relatively well through the pandemic, but there is likely a long and uneven road to recovery ahead. With this in mind, there are four key themes worth considering for insurance company investors in the months to come.

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• Finding the Right Sovereign ESG Indicators: A Greek Tragedy?

  On our mini odyssey through the vast seas of sovereign ESG indicators, we sought to identify data from reliable third parties—which would provide benchmarking criteria between countries and also serve as an effective screening tool to identify outliers.

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• EM Debt: Where is the Value Today?

  Barings’ Cem Karacadag discusses the outlook for emerging markets debt, including the uneven impact of the pandemic, how rising interest rates and fluctuating currencies may influence the picture, and the increasing role that ESG is playing in identifying winners and losers.

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• The False Dawn of Big Tech Regulation?

  Calls for increased regulation of tech giants have indeed grown—but will they have the desired impact? In our opinion, the focus on "big is bad" is simply ineffective in a digital world.

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• CLOs: Cautious Optimism

  Coming off a tumultuous year, CLOs look well-positioned going forward—particularly if the economy continues to heal and rates move higher.

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• EMD: Light at the End of the Tunnel

  The rollout of the COVID vaccine may be slower across emerging markets, meaning restrictions will likely remain in place for the foreseeable future. But there are bright spots—including in local currencies and companies that have adapted to this ‘new normal’.

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• High Yield: Strong Tailwinds, But It May be a Bumpy Ride

  High yield has a number of supportive tailwinds at its back—from a more manageable default picture and less exposure to potentially rising rates to investors’ continued demand for yield. But uncertainties remain, suggesting a potentially bumpy path to recovery.

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• How Healthy is Today's Private Credit Market?

  Barings’ Jon Bock weighs in on the dynamics shaping private credit today—from deal activity, to leverage metrics, to spread levels—and discusses how investors can access the opportunity.

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• Three Reasons Loans May Be Poised for Strong Performance

  It’s not as simple as ‘when rates rise buy loans; when rates fall buy bonds.’ Indeed, a combination of several factors has set the stage for loans to potentially deliver attractive total returns going forward.

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• 2021 Outlook: The Uneven Recovery

  The recovery in many ways looks real and durable—but it also looks uneven and, in some cases, quite unpredictable. In this discussion, investment professionals from the public and private markets discuss where they expect to see risks and opportunities in the year ahead.

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• The Case for European Real Estate Debt

  The supportive pricing fundamentals in the European real estate market, and low leverage relative to previous property cycles, suggest the asset class is well-positioned to withstand the impact of the pandemic.

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• 2021 Outlook: The Uneven Recovery

  Listen as Barings' portfolio managers and investment professionals discuss the cyclical and structural trends expected to shape public and private markets in 2021 & beyond.

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• Private Credit: How Healthy is Today's Middle Market?

  Barings’ Jon Bock weighs in on the current dynamics driving today’s private credit markets from deal activity, to leverage metrics, to spread levels, and discusses the pro’s and con’s of investment structures from public and private BDCs to commingled funds.

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• Structural Trends Supporting Asian Equities

  There are a number of supportive structural trends shaping the opportunity in Asian equities, many of which—perhaps counterintuitively—have been amplified by the pandemic and U.S.-China trade tensions.

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• Value-Add Beyond the Pandemic

  The shock provided by the global pandemic has roiled real estate markets around the world—which means that the quality and location of properties has never been more important.

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• U.S. Real Estate Research Quarterly

  Although the U.S. economy bounced back sharply in the third quarter, the near-term path for the economy and real estate markets remains highly dependent on progress toward a medical solution to COVID and the degree of further lockdowns. The Barings Real Estate team weighs in.

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• European Real Estate Research Quarterly

  While COVID has negatively impacted the retail and hotel sectors, the logistics and residential sectors have been much less affected. The Barings Real Estate team weighs in on the opportunity set—and why the overall outlook remains positive.

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• Real Estate Debt: Europe’s Developing Opportunity

  Barings Real Estate’s Sam Mellor describes the trends underpinning the structural growth of real estate debt in Europe, and compares and contrasts the asset class with other public and private fixed income alternatives.

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• Why Tech Bubble Fears are Overdone

  The tech sector’s impressive performance and increasing concentration in indexes has led to concerns of expensive valuations—with some fearing that we could be in bubble territory. In our view, such worries are not justified, and we believe tech’s outlook remains healthy.

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• CLOs: A Bias Toward Quality

  CLOs continued their rebound in the third quarter, but the potential for volatility going forward is high. In this environment, there may be benefits to moving up in quality.

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• EMD: A Strong Tailwind, But Risks on the Horizon

  Segments of the EM debt market have been bright spots in fixed income this year. Will EMs outperform DMs in the months ahead—or are the risks too great? It may come down to country and credit selection.

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• IG Credit: Upgrading the Roster

  In a landscape rife with risk, there may be benefits to upgrading both credit quality and liquidity.

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• High Yield: Bridging the Gap to a Post-COVID World

  What lies ahead for high yield markets? Head of Global Public Fixed Income, Martin Horne weighs in on what the bifurcated asset price recovery, record issuance levels and falling default expectations imply for high yield markets in the months ahead.

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• High Yield: Halfway There?

  The shock was the story in the first quarter, the stimulus was the story in the second—but we’re decidedly not yet in the post-COVID era, and the path to economic recovery remains unclear. What does that mean for high yield?

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• Investible Trends in Real Estate for 2021 and Beyond

  A Barings 360 Webinar on Real Estate Equity

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• Post-COVID European Private Credit: A Higher Quality Market?

  On the back of COVID, transactions in the European middle market are showing decreased leverage levels, stronger documentation and improvements in pricing—suggesting a rebasing of the market from where it has been for the past several years.

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• Emerging Markets Equity: Evolving and Transforming

  From leading technologies, shifting consumption patterns, evolving business models to ESG—there are a number of factors shaping the opportunity in EM equities. Join Barings’ EM Equities team as they unpack the structural trends shaping this landscape and discuss the opportunities they expect to see going forward.

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• Are EM Countries Able (and Willing) to Pay Their Debt?

  Capitalizing on opportunities in EM debt will not only require traditional fundamental analysis to determine countries’ ability to satisfy their debt obligations, but also—and perhaps just as importantly—an understanding of their willingness to pay.

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• ASEAN: Where Positive Demographics Meet Supportive Secular Trends

  Recent market volatility has created what we view as an attractive opportunity in ASEAN equities—particularly to tap into selective structural growth stories at compelling valuations.

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• ESG in Equities: Better Outcomes Require Better Practices

  Not all approaches to ESG are created equal—why a focus on integration, forward-looking dynamics and active engagement is the key to unlocking long-term returns in equity investments.

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• The Crisis No One is Talking About

  The migration patterns stemming from Venezuela’s economic collapse provide key ESG insights, especially for Colombia and other neighboring countries, and particularly when compared to the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey.

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• ESG in Equities: Not All Approaches are Created Equal

  Dr. Ghadir Cooper, Global Head of Equities, shares insight into the deliberate approach that her team takes when incorporating ESG into their investment process, including how integration, dynamism and active engagement contribute to better outcomes.

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• High Yield: Near-Term Risks & Opportunities

  From COVID to trade tensions to the U.S. presidential election, there are a number of risks on the horizon. But opportunities continue to emerge, particularly in higher-rated credits and senior secured bonds.

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• The Evolving Opportunity in Distressed Debt

  As the pandemic recedes, some companies may have a harder time managing higher debt levels than others—and as weaker issuers undergo restructurings or other stressed situations, there may be opportunities for investors to deploy more capital into distressed debt strategies.

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• Three Reasons for EM Short Duration Debt

  Emerging markets debt has shown much resilience despite facing its share of pandemic-induced difficulties. A short-dated approach, in particular, can provide an opportunity to pick up incremental yield and diversification, with less volatility.

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• Hong Kong-China Equities: Accelerating Areas of Opportunity

  As COVID-19 slowly loosens its grip on China, it has become clear that many of the long-term structural trends shaping the markets remain intact or have even accelerated—creating investment opportunities in Hong Kong-China equities.

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• U.S. Real Estate Research Quarterly

  As businesses and individuals continue to adapt to life in the midst of a pandemic, U.S. real estate sectors and trends continue to evolve. While some changes may be temporary, others will alter the industry and future opportunity set. The Barings Real Estate team weighs in.

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• European Real Estate Research Quarterly

  In the midst of a pandemic, some European real estate sectors are thriving, and should emerge stronger in the end, while others are merely surviving. The Barings Real Estate team weighs in on the shifting opportunity set—and why the overall outlook remains positive.

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• Investor Series: Private Assets for Insurers

  Insurance investors face unique challenges in any environment but especially against today’s backdrop of continued low rates and a global economic slowdown. Barings’ Ann Bryant and Eric Lloyd discuss strategies for incorporating private assets as part of the solution.

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• How the Pandemic Changes Real Estate

  The global pandemic is changing the way we live, work and play. Such behavioral changes have been felt acutely across commercial real estate markets, and the impact may only accelerate from here. But which changes are short term and which are here to stay?

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• High Yield: Liquidity Abounds, But What Lies Ahead?

  Ample liquidity from central banks has driven a significant recovery across markets, including high yield. But with much uncertainty still ahead, we see benefits to moving up the capital structure and considering secured assets.

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• EMD: Further Room to Run?

  Emerging markets debt rallied strongly in the second quarter—and while risks remain ever-present, the asset class may benefit from continued monetary stimulus and the potential for a sharper economic bounce-back in the second half of the year.

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• CLOs: Looking Down the Road to Recovery

  CLOs rallied in the second quarter as liquidity returned and supply/demand dynamics began to normalize. While opportunities have emerged—particularly in high-rated tranches and new issue BBs—active management is key.

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• Investment Grade Credit: Whatever It Takes

  After the historic rollercoaster ride IG credit took in the first quarter, U.S. policymakers seem to have won the day, at least for now—with their own version of the phrase made famous by former ECB President Mario Draghi: Whatever it takes.

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• European Real Estate: Where the Opportunities are Today

  Barings Real Estate’s Valeria Falcone describes how COVID-19 has changed the competitive dynamics across European property markets, and highlights where the team is finding and creating value today.

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• High Yield: The Power of Flexibility in Volatile Times

  The journey back to normalcy will likely be punctuated with stops and starts. But opportunities will emerge—and being in a position to capture the upside is key.

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• 2020 Views from the LPAC

  Over our 25+ years of investing across private markets, Barings has held hundreds of Limited Partner Advisory Committee (LPAC) seats. From this vantage point, we offer the following insights on the issues and actions currently under debate between LPs and their GPs.

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• Real Estate: The Critical Role of Asset Management in a Crisis

  Asset management is vital to long-term value creation in real estate debt and equity markets—particularly when it comes to navigating crises like COVID-19.

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• ESG: The Intent Beyond the Income

  ESG is playing an increasingly meaningful role in fixed income investing. At Barings, we formally integrate ESG across our corporate credit asset classes—but the way we apply our analysis is necessarily different due to the nuances of each market.

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• ESG in Fixed Income: Progress Over Perfection

  Fixed income investors have been slower to adopt environmental, social and governance factors, but change is afoot. Barings’ experts explain how fixed income managers can—and are—driving tangible change among corporate debt issuers—and why investors need to pay attention.

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• The EM Default Picture: More Nuanced Than Headlines Imply

  The coronavirus pandemic is creating short-term and long-term challenges for emerging markets (EMs). But not all sovereign and corporate issuers can be painted with the same broad brush, and placing too much weight on overly dire forecasts may result in missed opportunities.

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• Four Benefits of Senior Secured Bonds in an Uncertain Environment

  Times of volatility can also yield opportunity if navigated carefully—and in the event of widespread defaults, senior secured bonds can offer some particularly compelling benefits.

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• What's Next for Private Credit?

  Now that the proverbial rubber has met the road, many investors are questioning what’s in store for private credit in the months (and years) ahead. In many ways, the current volatility is setting the stage for significant opportunities—but managing the downside is critical.

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• Volatility, Tech & ESG: COVID’s Impact on Global Equities

  COVID-19 has proved challenging for businesses—but opportunities have emerged, particularly for companies with business models built to capitalize on long-term structural trends. Dr. Ghadir Cooper shares her views on equity markets today and what to expect going forward.

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• Taking the Bite Out of High Yield’s Tail Risk

  A new buyer has arrived on the scene of U.S. high yield markets, and it happens to be the biggest buyer of them all: the U.S. Federal Reserve.

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• EM Debt: When Prices Decouple from Fundamentals

  Dr. Ricardo Adrogué discusses how the global pandemic has impacted emerging markets, including implications for sovereign and corporate debt markets, as well as interest rates and currencies.

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• High Yield: Finding Value in a Landscape Rife with Risk

  Concerns surrounding COVID-19, lower oil prices and a global recession have weighed heavily on markets—including global high yield bonds and leveraged loans. While value opportunities are emerging, the landscape is punctuated with risks that must be carefully navigated.

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• High Yield: Navigating COVID-19

  Barings’ Martin Horne puts the recent volatility in high yield markets into context and describes how the Barings team is both managing risks and finding value opportunities through the crisis.

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• EMD: Finding Fundamental Value Through the Storm

  The rapid spread of COVID-19, the precipitous fall in oil prices and the related shock to the global economy have sent markets—including EMD—into a tailspin in recent weeks. In this piece, we explore the resulting challenges and discuss opportunities beginning to emerge.

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• Secured Bonds: Added Protection in the Face of Uncertainty

  With a number of macro risks on the horizon, some investors have (perhaps rightfully) adopted a more cautious outlook when it comes to allocations to risk assets. In some cases, this has meant taking a closer look at senior secured bonds.

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• High Yield: Rates, Recessions and Relative Value

  While there is no shortage of risks to consider in today’s high yield markets—from ESG to the end of the credit cycle—Barings’ Martin Horne describes how taking a contrarian approach can help investors uncover pockets of value.

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• Distressed Debt: Seeking Opportunity in Choppy Waters

  Stuart Mathieson, Head of Barings’ Global Special Situations group, and Bryan High, Co-Portfolio Manager of the strategy, discuss how the macro environment is impacting their outlook, and where they're seeing distressed debt opportunities today.

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• Distressed Debt: How This Cycle May Be Different

  Barings’ Stuart Mathieson and Bryan High discuss the outlook and competitive landscape for distressed debt and consider the implications of the significant growth in private credit and European high yield since the last cycle.

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• U.S. Loans: Challenged Market or Veiled Opportunity?

  With loan and bond yields currently comparable, we believe—in a somewhat contrarian view to the market—there is a good argument for investing in loans, particularly in the U.S., where the economy appears to be marginally stronger than in Europe.

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• Fixed Income: Upending the Conventional Approach

  Michael Freno, Head of Global Markets, shares his view on where value can still be found in fixed income, despite the uncertain current environment—and why investors may need to look beyond traditional indexes in high yield, investment grade and emerging markets debt.

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• Fixed Income: Looking Beyond the Index for Late-Cycle Value

  Head of Global Markets, Mike Freno, sheds light on how the Barings’ teams are finding value outside of traditional indexes across high yield, investment grade credit and emerging markets debt.

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• Intangible Assets: The Royal Opportunity Set

  A subset of Intangibles, pharmaceutical royalties present a particularly compelling investment opportunity. Barings’ Jon Rotolo and David Jin explain why.

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• Private Equity: Emerging, Women & Diverse Managers

  Amid increased competition and rich valuations, PE returns have continued to trend downward. In this interview, Barings’ Mina Nazemi discusses how allocations to emerging, women and diverse managers can potentially help combat this trend.

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• Navigating Change in China

  Barings’ Global Head of Equities, Ghadir Cooper, assesses the transformation of China’s economy, and explains why investors should be encouraged by the country’s decisive policy actions.

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• Seeking Value in Today’s Private Credit Market

  In this Q&A, Barings’ Eric Lloyd discusses his team’s approach to navigating the risks and capitalizing on the opportunities across the global private credit markets.

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• How Opportunistic Is Your Investment Grade Allocation?

  Michael Freno, Head of Global Markets, discusses the benefits of 'multi-asset' or 'opportunistic' credit portfolios and the newly-launched Barings Global Investment Grade Strategies.

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• 5 Things to Consider When Investing in Private Credit

  In this piece from Benefits and Pensions Monitor, Barings’ Ian Fowler discusses five key considerations for investors interested in allocating to private credit.

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• Turkey: Where From Here?

  On the back of developments in recent months, Barings’ Emerging Europe equities team takes a look at how Turkey is positioned.

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• Climbing High Yield’s Wall of Worry

  The global high yield markets face a number of risks. Yet, these markets have continued to scale such a ‘wall of worry’ for the last decade. Should we expect more of the same, or are we nearing a turning point in the cycle? Barings’ Martin Horne weighs in.

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• Navigating Risks in Today’s High Yield Markets

  In this Q&A, Barings’ Head of Global High Yield, Martin Horne, discusses how the Barings team is navigating some of the major risks—from a trade war and Brexit negotiations to rising rates and a maturing credit cycle—present in the markets today.

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• Navigating European Real Estate Markets

  In this Q&A, Paul Stewart, Head of European Real Estate Research & Strategy, discusses how investors in the asset class can allocate capital in an uncertain interest rate environment, while facing potential headwinds such as Brexit and the threat of trade wars.

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• Opportunities Across Energy and Power Generation

  As long-term structural demand trends converge with short-term technological innovations, opportunities are emerging to invest private capital in real assets.

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• Second Chances

  The market for infrastructure investments has become increasingly competitive. In this piece from i3, Barings’ Naoki Ohta discusses the infrastructure secondaries market and where Barings is seeing opportunities today.

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• Maintaining Discipline in a Maturing Credit Cycle

  With competition high and signs of mispricing of some assets, Eric Lloyd of Barings stresses the importance of a global and diversified approach to portfolio construction.

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• Why Recent Weakness in EM Equities Presents an Opportunity

  In this commentary, which appears in September’s edition of IPE, William Palmer and Michael Levy explain why they believe the factors that have contributed to the weak share price performance are temporary in nature, and growth prospects for the asset class remain attractive.

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• Madison Centre

  This cutting-edge office tower in Seattle’s central business district exemplifies how global research, coupled with local insights, helps uncover attractive opportunities.

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• Seeking Opportunities Across Global Real Estate Markets

  At Barings, we leverage our deep teams, global presence and expertise across the four quadrants of real estate as we seek to help our clients turn opportunities into real solutions.

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• Multi Credit Investing: Embracing the High Yield of Today

  Over the past decade, the growth and expansion of the global high yield markets have transformed the way investors view the asset class. In this article, we discuss the potential benefits of considering a multi credit, “through-the-cycle” approach, which can give investors’ high yield allocation more flexibility, potentially improving their ability to capitalize on opportunities across the global high yield markets as they materialize throughout the credit cycle.

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• A Global Approach to High Yield Investing

  In the Conversations piece, Barings’ Sean Feeley and Chris Sawyer discuss the potential benefits of a global approach to high yield.

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• German Equity Outlook

  While market volatility has risen at the start of 2018, Barings continues to see attractive investment opportunities in German equities. In this viewpoint, we tell readers why and where we see the greatest investment potential.

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• Intellectual Property as a Real Asset

  In this Viewpoint, we examine the definition of “real assets” and explain how intellectual property exhibits characteristics consistent with other real assets.

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• EM Local Debt: Focused on Fundamentals

  Barings' combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis and tools provide a comprehensive and rigorous framework for investing in emerging markets local debt. In this Viewpoint, we give readers an inside look into our investment process.

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• Seeking Relative Value in Global Private Debt

  As institutional investors continue to turn toward private debt for potentially attractive risk adjusted returns in a low-yielding environment, they may benefit from taking a global approach to the asset class.

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• Cyclical Evolution and Structural Revolution

  In this piece from Preqin, Barings’ heads of U.S. and European real estate research explore the ways in which structural shifts within cities and industries are presenting an evolving set of opportunities and risks for investors.

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• Opportunities in Private Equity and Real Assets

  Jonathan Rotolo, Head of Private Equity / Real Assets, discusses the potential benefits of an alternative investment strategy focused on real assets and asset-based private equity and what such an approach looks like in practice.

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• Multi Credit Investing: A Through-The-Cycle Approach to High Yield

  Read about how a multi credit approach to high yield can benefit investors in this Q&A with Barings’ heads of U.S. and European high yield investments.

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• An Alternative Approach

  In this Viewpoint, we discuss the unique real asset and private equity investing strategy employed by Barings Alternative Investments.

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• VIDEO: European High Yield Opportunities

  European High Yield Bond Portfolio Manager, Craig Abouchar discusses why the Barings team see value in the single-B market.

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• VIDEO: How is this cycle different?

  Head of European High Yield, Martin Horne weighs in on how this credit cycle has differed from those in the past and what that means for investors.

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