Critical thinking, critical issues

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions.

Evolution is change, and while change might be continuous, its pace may vary over time. The private markets investment landscape has certainly changed over the years since its beginning in the 1940s and has grown to become a ten trillion US dollar industry. 

To discuss the evolution we have seen over the years Zeenat Patel is joined by Claudia Zeisberger, professor of entrepreneurship and family enterprise at INSEAD and founder of the Global Private Equity Initiative and Billy Charlton, Mercer’s global head of private markets, analytics and research .

Register to hear more from Claudia and Billy at the Mercer annual Alternatives Conference here

This content is for institutional investors and information purposes only. It does not contain investment, financial, legal, tax or any other advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. The materials are not tailored to your particular personal and/or financial position. If you require advice based on your specific circumstances, you should contact a professional adviser.


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Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions.

In this episode, Marg Franklin, President and CEO of the CFA Institute unpacks the 2022 Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index with lead author David Knox, a Senior Partner at Mercer. 

Throughout, they explore the results of year’s index and discuss the significant challenges and important changes to the pension industry in the last year. 

 Explore the 2022 Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index

This content is for institutional investors and information purposes only. It does not contain investment, financial, legal, tax or any other advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. The materials are not tailored to your particular personal and/or financial position. If you require advice based on your specific circumstances, you should contact a professional adviser.


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Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions.

Mercer’s Damien Davis is joined by Rebecca Myatt, a Portfolio Manager with First Sentier Investors and Indira Sabitova, a Portfolio Manager with Mercer to explore both the potential benefits of listed infrastructure and what the future holds for the asset class.

This content is for institutional investors and information purposes only. It does not contain investment, financial, legal, tax or any other advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. The materials are not tailored to your particular personal and/or financial position. If you require advice based on your specific circumstances, you should contact a professional adviser.

This does not constitute an offer or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell securities, commodities and/or any other financial instruments or products or constitute a solicitation on behalf of any of the investment managers, their affiliates. For the avoidance of doubt, this is not formal investment advice to allow any party to transact. Additional advice will be required in advance of entering into any contract.

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Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions.

In this episode, Mercer UK’s Sustainability Integration Lead, Vanessa Hodge is joined by Ashleigh Morris, CEO and co-founder of Coreo and Jillian Reid, Partner in Mercer’s global Sustainable Investment Team to discuss their recent Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) discussion paper for investors on the circular economy. Also joining the conversation is Jamie Butterworth, who is a Partner at Circularity Capital, a specialist private equity firm providing access to investment opportunities created by the circular economy.


This content is for institutional investors and information purposes only. It does not contain investment, financial, legal, tax or any other advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. The materials are not tailored to your particular personal and/or financial position. If you require advice based on your specific circumstances, you should contact a professional adviser.

This does not constitute an offer or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell securities, commodities and/or any other financial instruments or products or constitute a solicitation on behalf of any of the investment managers, their affiliates. For the avoidance of doubt, this is not formal investment advice to allow any party to transact. Additional advice will be required in advance of entering into any contract.

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Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions.

To go straight to one of the key findings, see the chapters below:

1:45 - Macro concerns reflected in the sentiment of the sector

19:22- Private markets — The big migration, with special guest Dina Richard, Trinity Health

38:05- Outsourcing — Navigating the future with the right support, with Special guests Richard Williams, Diocese of Rochester and Georges Dyer, Intentional Endowment Network

53:53 - Sustainability — Closing the gap between ethics and investment returns, with special guest Georges Dyer, Intentional Endowment Network

We canvassed the opinions and intentions of not-for-profit investors from around the world on a range of subjects, including sustainability, macro challenges reflected in the sector, the increase in allocation to private markets and the evolution towards seeking third party assistance to help them overcome challenges and achieve the objectives of their not for profit organisation.

Throughout this episode we will be joined by Mercer colleagues and special guests to discuss these 4 key considerations that were highlighted within the report as well as the range of possible action points.

Read the full report here or mercer.com/notforprofitsurvey

This content is for institutional investors and information purposes only. It does not contain investment, financial, legal, tax or any other advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. The materials are not tailored to your particular personal and/or financial position. If you require advice based on your specific circumstances, you should contact a professional adviser.

This does not constitute an offer or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell securities, commodities and/or any other financial instruments or products or constitute a solicitation on behalf of any of the investment managers, their affiliates. For the avoidance of doubt, this is not formal investment advice to allow any party to transact. Additional advice will be required in advance of entering into any contract.

The findings, ratings and/or opinions expressed herein are the intellectual property of Mercer and are subject to change without notice. They are not intended to convey any guarantees as to the future performance of the investment products, asset classes or capital markets discussed.  Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investment advisory services for Brazil clients are provided by Mercer Human do Brasil (Mercer Brazil), a company regulated by the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission to provide Financial Advisory services.

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Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions.


Inflationary pressures that began bubbling during the Covid crisis have come to a head, and central banks are fighting it by engineering an economic slowdown. Risks remain high in some markets, in others there are grounds for optimism and buying opportunities.

Samantha Davidson, US OCIO Segment Leader is joined by Rupert Watson, Head of Asset Allocation, Europe and Anthony Brown, Director of capital markets, US to discuss the key findings from our 2022 mid-year outlook.

Read the full paper here

This content is for institutional investors and information purposes only. It does not contain investment, financial, legal, tax or any other advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. The materials are not tailored to your particular personal and/or financial position. If you require advice based on your specific circumstances, you should contact a professional adviser.

This does not constitute an offer or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell securities, commodities and/or any other financial instruments or products or constitute a solicitation on behalf of any of the investment managers, their affiliates. For the avoidance of doubt, this is not formal investment advice to allow any party to transact. Additional advice will be required in advance of entering into any contract.

The findings, ratings and/or opinions expressed herein are the intellectual property of Mercer and are subject to change without notice. They are not intended to convey any guarantees as to the future performance of the investment products, asset classes or capital markets discussed.  Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investment advisory services for Brazil clients are provided by Mercer Human do Brasil (Mercer Brazil), a company regulated by the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission to provide Financial Advisory services.

 Read our full important notices - click here

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions.

Performance of active equity strategies in Q1 2022 was challenging, leading to unfavourable relative returns over the quarter and, in a number of areas, over the last 12 months. This has raised questions over active management and how investors should respond to poor relative returns. Join Suzanne Lubbe and Victoria Goh from Mercer’s manager research team as they discuss why they believe investors shouldn’t give up on active management and what is the best way to think about the individual building blocks when constructing multi-manager equity portfolios.

Read the paper here

This content is for institutional investors and information purposes only. It does not contain investment, financial, legal, tax or any other advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. The materials are not tailored to your particular personal and/or financial position. If you require advice based on your specific circumstances, you should contact a professional adviser.

 Read our full important notices - click here

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions.

Join Rupert Watson, Head of Asset Allocation Europe and Rachel Volynsky, CIO Canada as they discuss the outlook for equities after significant falls this year.

The FED has faced criticism for being too slow to tighten financial conditions, and to not notice or appreciate what was happening to inflation. With a recession seeming inevitable for many, Rupert and Rachel discuss whether they think we are heading for a recession, but importantly whether it will be a deep or mild recession. With Equity markets having corrected this year and signalling a return towards fundamental valuations, we ask is there more to go and will the FED intervene? Where can investors look for opportunities across developed markets, China and more broadly emerging markets.

This content is for institutional investors and information purposes only. It does not contain investment, financial, legal, tax or any other advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. The materials are not tailored to your particular personal and/or financial position. If you require advice based on your specific circumstances, you should contact a professional adviser.

 Read our full important notices - click here

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers as of the date of publication, are subject to change without notice and do not necessarily reflect Mercer’s opinions.

Rich Nuzum, President of Investments & Retirement, Mercer discusses his perspectives coming away from Davos with International Head of Clients, Mark McNulty.  Listen as Rich shares learnings and new ideas from meeting CEOs, governments, philanthropists, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs that could help tackle some of the world's biggest challenges.
 
This content is for institutional investors and information purposes only. It does not contain investment, financial, legal, tax or any other advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. The materials are not tailored to your particular personal and/or financial position. If you require advice based on your specific circumstances, you should contact a professional adviser.

ESG investing refers to environmental, social, and governance considerations that may have a material impact on financial performance, and therefore are taken into account, alongside other economic and financial metrics, in assessing the risk and return potential of an investment. Thematic investing involves investing with a goal, at least in part, to achieve an impact on an environmental, social, or governance issue, alongside generating return and mitigating risk. As always, the decision whether to invest in ESG-themed options, like all options, must be made pursuant to a prudent process with the objective of advancing the financial interest of the plan and its participants.

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