The EPFR Exchange Podcast Kirsten Longbottom & Cameron Brandt

Join us for an exclusive conversation with industry leaders Jay McLaughlin from iMoneyNet, and guest expert Tim Schiltz from Schwab Asset Management.  

Dive deeper into what has by some measures been a banner year for US liquidity funds, especially if inflows are your key measure of success. The group of US Money Market Funds tracked by EPFR have seen inflows this year climb past $1 trillion total, a record by far. iMoneyNet leader Jay McLaughlin highlights how assets and yields have been performing quite well over the past 18 months, especially when looking at the all taxable average - the most commonly used benchmark for iMoneyNet - from a yield perspective.
However, this only tells part of what is – more than ever – a complicated story. To a degree, Money Market Funds gain is pain for US regional banks as their deposit bases migrate. Those expanding asset bases are also keeping the industry in the forefront of regulatory minds, with another suite of reforms - the third in the last decade - currently on the drawing board.

Conversation led/guided by EPFR research analyst Kirsten Longbottom.
If you have a question about this episode, want to request a demo of our data, or talk to an EPFR expert today... Contact us now!

China clearly holds the crown among Emerging Market Equity markets when it comes to attracting fund flows this year. In the struggling Developed Market universe, meanwhile, Japan is breaking free of the pack. Japan Equity Funds have recorded inflows 11 of the past 12 weeks, and Japan Dividend and ESG Funds have done even better with flows to the former picking up significantly in mid-March and those to Japan ESG Funds lofting off at the start of February.  Yet, the lag in response to increasingly rosy market conditions and the minimal changes that Global and Global ex-US Funds have made to their Japanese exposure, hints at a degree of skepticism.

In this episode, Research Associate Kirsten Longbottom and Director of Research Cameron Brandt invite Pictet Asset Management's Senior Portfolio Manager Jon Withaar to discuss these themes and trends.

We look back at 2015 when the corporate governance code was introduced, discuss the current, relatively cheap valuations of Japanese assets, explore what bad inflation looks like for Japan, examine the linkages between Japan and China in the long term, ask where the Bank of Japan will go from here and delve into the benefits of a weak Yen versus strong Dollar.

More from EPFR on Japan:
Aug 6, 2023 Quants Corner: An unusual visitor comes knocking on Japan’s door. Did it RSVP?Jan 27, 2023 Off the Wire: Japan government bonds: Is there a coming outflow?Feb 3, 2022 Paper: A rising tide lifts some (Japanese) boats: The Bank of Japan’s ETF purchases and their impact on market signals for individual stocks



If you have a question about this episode, want to request a demo of our data, or talk to an EPFR expert today... Contact us now!

Investors have viewed Emerging Markets with a "glass half full" approach so far this year despite alarming headwinds for key actors. EM Equity Funds have brought in money this year while their Developed Markets counterparts have seen outflows. Kirsten Longbottom and Cameron Brandt from EPFR discussed key themes and shifts taking place in Emerging Markets with R Burns McKinney, managing director and senior portfolio manager/analyst at NFJ Investment Group. From the growth story and strong sector flows in China to the production of metals in Latin America to the expectation of India to break free of the pack, we cover it all. 
If you have a question about this episode, want to request a demo of our data, or talk to an EPFR expert today... Contact us now!

To kickoff our relaunch – twice monthly episodes where we feature an expert guest and focus in on specific themes or trends – integral members of our research team, Kirsten Longbottom and Cameron Brandt, invited Domestic Equities Portfolio Manager and the Head of ESG Strategy at Trillium Asset Management, Elizabeth Levy to join us on the EPFR Exchange and talk all things ESG. From a theme often referred to as “pixie dust” for fund flows to a changing dynamic in the last 18 months, from a lack of understanding among investors to a lack of clarity from the investment products themselves, from the environmental aspect to the social side, from energy to clean tech, this episode helps give perspective of the everchanging and overgrowing SRI & ESG equity universe. Listen in and email us at podcast@epfr.com with questions, or if you want a peak in to the Fund Flows & Allocations data we track.


If you have a question about this episode, want to request a demo of our data, or talk to an EPFR expert today... Contact us now!

If you have a question about this episode, want to request a demo of our data, or talk to an EPFR expert today... Contact us now!

If you have a question about this episode, want to request a demo of our data, or talk to an EPFR expert today... Contact us now!