Other Downloads

Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) drives emissions reductions and improved water management by providing a global system for companies to measure, disclose, manage and share climate change and water information.

In 2012 more than 470 institutional investors representing in excess of US$50 trillion in assets supported CDP in engaging with companies worldwide to disclose and ultimately manage water issues in order to create and sustain long term shareholder value. 

For the first time since 1949, the US has become a net petroleum product exporting country and has edged out Russia as the world’s largest refined petroleum exporter. A simple explanation would point to lower demand and a struggling

 economy which requires less imported energy. But, that would only get you half the answer. US demand has fallen by some 2-m b/d since its peak in 2005 in part due to the recession but also due to a structural change due to demographic changes, policies on fuel efficiencies and the mass-commercialization of technologies.

The more exciting part of the answer is on the supply side as the US has become the fastest growing oil and natural gas producing area of the world and is now the most important marginal source for oil and gas globally. Add to this steadily growing Canadian production and a comeback in Mexican production and you get to a higher growth rate than all of OPEC can sustain.

The economic consequences from this supply and demand revolution are potentially extraordinary. We estimate that the cumulative impact of new production, reduced consumption and associated activity may increase real GDP by 2.0 to 3.3%, or $370-$624 billion (in 2005 $) respectively. $274 billion of this comes directly from the output of new hydrocarbon production alone, while the rest is generated by multiplier effects as the surge in economic activity drives higher wealth, spending, consumption and investment effects that ripple through the economy. This potential re-industrialization of the US economy is both profound and timely, occurring as the US struggles to shake off the lingering effects of the 2008 financial crisis.
The reduced vulnerability of North America — and the world market — to oil price spikes also has deep consequences geopolitically, including the reduced strategic importance to the US of changes in oil- and natural gas-producing countries worldwide. Pressures towards isolationism in the US will likely grow, with consequences for global stability that can only just begin to become understood

About one billion people around the world today are going hungry and suffering from malnutrition, with permanent damage to their health and little perspective for their lives. In 2010 alone, food prices rose by one-third, causing an additional 40 million people to plunge into absolute poverty. There was another record high: by the end of March 2011, capital investors like insurance companies and pension funds had invested 600 billion dollars in bets on commodities, including corn and wheat, in the form of securities launched by investment banks and hedge funds. Is there a demonstrable relationship?

Does a financial industry that has gone out of hand harm the life and health of the poorest by driving up food prices?

foodwatch wanted to know the extent to which these allegations are substantiated and to clarify the debate by documenting the situation and the arguments used in detail. We therefore commissioned Harald Schumann, journalist and recognized expert on the world of finance, to review the most important analyses, speak with actors involved, interview researchers, and summarize the current state of the debate. foodwatch is now calling for specific political action to be taken based on the information Mr. Schumann gathered.

Market Volatility: Friend or Foe?, a 2012 Principal Global Investors / CREATE-Research report, highlighted how investors' approachesto risk are changing and how asset managers can convert market volatility into an investment opportunity for their clients.

This follow-up report takes a deeper look into the importance of innovation, which was not a significant area of focus in the global edition of Market Volatility: Friend or Foe?, and goes much more in-depth into the U.S. market. In the wake of the 2008 credit crisis, prolonged volatility has enjoined investors and their managers alike to explore new ways of investing and managing the asset business to cope with the new reality.

Accordingly, this report highlights recent and prospective changes specific to four areas:

• Investment approaches

• Asset choices

• Diversification practices

• Business models

The underlying survey was carried out in the first half of 2012. It involved 289 asset managers, pension consultants and fund distributors in 29 countries around the world, with a combined AUM of $25.2 trillion. The survey was followed by 100 interviews, which included pension plans. Key findings from them are presented under the following five headlines

It has been provided courtesy of Create Research - Visit their Site

Climate change is making extreme weather much more likely. As the 2012 drought in the USA shows, extreme weather means extreme food prices. Our failure to slash greenhouse gas emissions presents a future of greater food price volatility, with severe consequences for the precarious lives and livelihoods of people living in poverty.

This briefing draws on new research commissioned by Oxfam which models the impact of extreme weather – like droughts, floods and heat waves – on the prices of key international staple crops in 2030. It suggests that existing research, which considers the gradual effects of climate change but does not take account of extreme weather, is significantly underestimating the potential implications of climate change for food prices.

This research shows how extreme weather events in a single year could bring about price spikes of comparable magnitude to two decades of long-run price rises. It signals the urgent need for a full stress-testing of the global food system in a warming world.

Asset owners and asset managers around the world are struggling with what it means to be a sustainable investor. In this report from Towers Watson, they consider sustainable investing in its broadest sense, incorporating ESG but also looking at the large inter-generational issues that institutional funds need to take into account. They draw on research undertaken in collaboration with Oxford University that was designed to help investors overcome the challenge of sustainable investing by exploring practical solutions and processes to enable investors to become sustainable investors.

Former BP Chief Petroleum Engineer Jeremy Gilbert just gave an excellent presentation that responds to every argument against peak oil and emphasizes the need for immediate action.

Water-related risks are receiving more attention than in the past, yet the connection to power sector development is not well understood by investors, governments, and companies in South and Southeast Asia. This report presents a framework for investors and analysts to assess the risk of impacts from water-related issues, including growing water scarcity and declining water quality, on thermal and hydroelectric power generation plants. While this analysis focuses on publicly listed power generation companies in India, Malaysia,Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, the risks outlined may apply to listed power generation companies operating in other water scarce regions.

The last four years have been the most volatile in the history of equity markets. Price fluctuations of 4% or more in intra-day sessions have occurred six times more than they did on average in the previous forty years. Extreme spikes in market volatility and asset class correlations have been common. 2011 was a nerve-shredding year.

Fear, greed and stress have amplified market cycles. The price-earnings ratios have no sensible anchor points for now.

The debt crisis in the West is the prime cause. Tackling it will be a long haul, fraught with policy errors and political expediency. Politics, more than economics, will likely drive the markets during this decade. But history tells us that times of high risk are also times of big opportunities. Naturally, investors in all client segments are asking whether asset managers can convert market volatility into investment opportunity for their end-clients. After all, that is the raison d’être of active management.

This excellent report was compiled by Create Research after surveying 289 asset managers, pension consultants and fund distributors from 29 countries with a total AUM of $ 25 Trillion and followed by 100 interviews. This document presents the key findings and the seven core themes that emerged.