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HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDED NOVEMBER 23
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Italian risk premium falls, despite budget spat |
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The yield premium of Italian short-term bonds over their low-risk German counterparts fell to the lowest level in almost 2 months in the week ending Nov. 23, 2018. The spread of 2-year BTPs over same-maturity Bunds dropped nearly 40 basis points over Wednesday and Thursday, despite the European Commission’s initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the Italian government regarding its proposed 2019 budget. However, markets seemed to discount the danger of potential fines and instead wagered on the government’s willingness to compromise and implement reforms. Meanwhile, the 10-year British Gilt benchmark rate dropped 4 basis points on Friday, as the UK government faced renewed criticism from MPs across the political spectrum over its proposed Brexit deal.

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Pound drops after turbulent week |
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The British pound fell 0.3% against the US dollar in the week ending Nov. 23, 2018, after Prime Minister Theresa May once again struggled to secure support in her own ranks for her proposed withdrawal agreement with the European Union. Initially, the currency had risen substantially, after a draft declaration agreed upon by both sides promised an “ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership” between Britain and the EU. But the pound still ended the week in the red, as it became clear that the intentions expressed in the non-legally binding political declaration were insufficient to convince hard-core Brexiteers and opposition politicians to vote for the withdrawal bill, which then would be binding. Short-horizon risk for the GBP/USD exchange rate, on the other hand, was slightly lower at 8.20%, though still substantially higher than most other developed currencies.

Please refer to figure 6 of the current Multi-Asset Class Risk Monitor (dated Nov. 23, 2018) for further details. |
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Lower FX/equity correlation reduces portfolio risk |
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Short-term risk in Axioma’s global multi-asset class model portfolio stood slightly lower at 10.24% as of Friday, Nov. 23, 2018, compared with 10.45% the previous week. The decline was mostly due to a less pronounced co-movement of share prices and currency exchange rates against the US dollar. The risk-reduction was therefore most prominent in the non-US equity category, which saw its share of overall volatility fall by 0.3%—or 2.5% of total risk. US stock holdings, on the other hand, experienced a rise in their volatility contribution due to a slightly higher standalone standard deviation. Oil risk also increased further, as the recent price fall resulted in a stronger correlation with stock markets.

Please refer to figures 7-10 of the current Multi-Asset Class Risk Monitor (dated Nov. 23, 2018) for further details.
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Stay Connected
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Axioma Insight™ 2018 Risk Review |
Date: December 12, 2018 Time: 11:00 AM ET / 4:00 PM GMT
In this webinar, Melissa R. Brown, Managing Director of Applied Research, will discuss the major themes driving risk across markets in 2018, and do a deeper dive into factor returns that likely impacted portfolios. Register now |
REPLAY | Axioma Insight™ Multi-Asset Class Risk Review |
In this webinar, Christoph V. Schon, Axioma's Executive Director of Applied Research, took a look back at the different risk environments and correlation regimes that dominated the past 12 months. Watch the recording here. |
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Preparing for a cliff-edge Brexit |
When several key members of the UK government resigned the morning after the cabinet had decided to finally back Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed withdrawal agreement, the probability of a so-called cliff-edge Brexit increased dramatically. |
Axioma and S&P Dow Jones Indices to create an innovative new set of factor-based indices |
Innovation, collaboration and factor indices. This week’s news optimizes all three, with S&P Dow Jones Indices announcing plans to develop new strategies across the smart beta and ESG space, powered by Axioma |
Adaptation Via Collaboration in the Brave New World of Asset Management |
The 10th anniversary of the Lehman Bros. collapse and the onset of the global financial crisis have generated this year countless newspaper and magazine articles, books and documentaries focusing on the events themselves and the profound changes that ensued in the years since. |
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Stress Testing for Alphas |
In this paper, we took the stress-testing process one step further and showed how the resulting contributions to expected loss could be used as inputs to construct portfolios for each specific stress scenario. |
Q3 2019 Insights: Top-Line Risk Drop in Q3 Masks Underlying Turmoil
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Q3 2018 saw large divergences between indexes typically viewed as “risk on”-type assets and their presumably less-risky counterparts.. |
Smart Beta: Even Smarter with an Optimizer and a Custom Risk Model |
Axioma and CS HOLT have collaborated to create a smart beta index --- the Credit Suisse HOLT Global Multi-Factor Portfolio --- that united the stock selection prowess of CS HOLT with Axioma’s portfolio construction and risk model expertise. In this paper, we highlight three key principles that drove the process to create this portfolio. |
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