Alternatives

Architas has launched a fund of funds designed to offer investors exposure to alternative asset classes such as infrastructure and forestry.

The energy infrastructure sector in the US has outperformed major equity and bond benchmarks over the past five years, posting annualised total returns of 32%, compared to 19% for the S&P 500.

Franklin Templeton has launched its first multi-manager alternatives fund for European investors following its acquisition of K2 Advisors in 2012.

Man Group has reported net inflows of $400m (£250m) in the third quarter of 2014, as renewed interest in its quantitative strategies was offset by redemptions at GLG.

The future direction of bond yields is less important to the fixed income story than many suspect, PIMCO's Mike Amey has suggested.

ALTERNATIVES

ALTERNATIVE BETA

The percentage of stocks borrowed by short sellers has fallen to the lowest level since before the financial crisis, as markets continue to rally.

Goldman Sachs' global equity team sees IT companies as main beneficiaries of improved tech infrastructure.

The hunt for active return is still on and with more realistic pricing, hedge funds could be the answer, argues Neuberger Berman's Fred Ingham.