Asset managers and asset owners, such as pension funds, insurers, endowments and sovereign funds, hold a large share of the world’s savings on behalf of beneficiaries whose horizons run for decades. Modern portfolio theory teaches that diversification reduces risk, and for many risks it does. But some risks are systemic: they affect most assets at once and cannot be diversified away. Financial economists call this market or systematic risk.
有几个因素使系统性风险暴露更加紧迫。指数投资和通用基准使许多投资组合持有相似的资产。实体气候风险威胁着各地区的实物资产及依赖它们的公司。能源、技术和人口结构的转型改变了哪些商业模式仍可持续。当许多投资者同时试图出售时,各市场的流动性可能在同一时刻消失。
When such exposures materialise, effects cascade. Falling asset values affect pension funding and household wealth; forced selling by some investors depresses prices for others; and stress in funds can spill into banks and markets. Asset management is therefore part of the financial system’s stability, not only a set of individual investment choices.