MSCI launches Barra product


New York-based specialist company MSCI Inc announced this week it had launched the Barra Australia Equity Model (AUE4) - a product it says is designed to rapidly adjust to market trends and shocks while providing portfolio managers with a more intuitive understanding of what is driving risk and returns in the Australian equity market.
The company claimed that, using the new product, chief investment officers, portfolio managers, researchers and risk managers working with Australian equity portfolios would be able to benefit from enhanced style factors that provide detailed forecasts for both long-only and long-short portfolios.
It said this was achieved by incorporating the new Volatility Regime Adjustment methodology, which calibrates volatility forecasts to current levels.
Commenting on the new product, Plato Investment Management Limited senior portfolio manager Todd Kennedy said the new product gave his company a risk management tool that adapts to changing market volatility automatically.
"This allows us to build investment strategies that deliver an expected amount of active risk, and ensures that we make good on the risk targets despite changing market conditions," he said.
Recommended for you
AZ NGA’s CEO has unpacked how its recent $345 million debt facility from Barings will accelerate its advice network’s growth ambitions, and allow its largest firms to access a greater source of funding.
Research by Colonial First State has found women are reluctant to make retirement preparations, despite 62 per cent saying they feel that they are unable to achieve a comfortable retirement.
Managed accounts saw net inflows of $14.3 billion in the six months to 31 December, according to the latest IMAP FUM census.
The increased bids for Insignia from Bain and CC Capital value the company at $3.3 billion, while there is still a possibility for competing bids from rival players such as Brookfield.