The Euro 100 Search for Yield in a Low-Growth, Low-Rate World

In the space of a few weeks this autumn, the betting line among investors on a December rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board went from a long shot to a strong consensus. Across the pond conditions are very different. Withinflationvirtually nonexistent and growth still sluggish, presidentMario Draghi.has made it clear that easy money remains the order of the day at the European Central Bank.

投资者are taking note. “We live in a world oflow growth, which probably means monetary policy that’s lower for longer,” says Jay Ralph, Munich-based chair of Allianz Asset Management, the investment arm of the German insurer Allianz. “For investors that leaves no alternative but to take some risk.”

Allianz retains its place at the top of the Euro 100,亚博赞助欧冠该地区最大的投资管理人员的独家排名，6月30日在管理层中的资产1.81万亿欧元Pacific Investment Management Co.，继去年联合创始人账单的出发后。

Multiasset strategies, which can invest in equities, bonds and other asset classes, are some of the biggest winners in this search-for-yield world, says Ralph. At Allianz Global Investors, the firm’s London-based arm, such strategies had net inflows of €10.7 billion in the first three quarters of 2015, more than for any other asset class. By contrast, fixed-income strategies had net inflows of €1.8 billion, while equities saw outflows of €500 million. “Multiasset is an income-oriented structure, and the focus is to generate income with a lower risk profile,” says Ralph. “That’s why it’s attractive.”

Other managers report strong demand for less-liquid alternatives such as infrastructure and real estate. “It’s the first year of observing so much interest in illiquid assets,” says Fabrice Chemouny, global head of institutional sales at Natixis Global Asset Management in Paris. The firm remains in sixth place with €812 billion in assets.

Much of the interest in alternatives come from European insurers, which need more long-dated assets to match their liabilities under the European Union’s偿付能力II指令, which takes effect in January, says Chemouny. Natixis has seen inflows of €1.6 billion into real estate funds since the beginning of the year, excluding the U.S. Meanwhile, clients from Germany and some other European countries are expressing renewed interest inemerging-marketsdebt because it looks cheap following recent rises in yields, he adds, a view echoed by other managers.

“Now is absolutely the time to be evaluatingemerging-marketdebt,” says Charles Prideaux, London-based head of institutional business for Europe, the Middle East and Africa atBlackRock, which ranks third with €1.1 trillion in assets.

副主管Elodie Laugel the institutional client group at AXA Investment Managers, the institutional arm of No. 2–ranked AXA Group, saysemerging-markets债务对欧洲投资者有长期的呼吁。Laugel说，它是“他们可以在其固定收入桶内留下的最后一个流动性的东西之一”。“

An alternative way for investors to respond to the lower-for-longer scenario is to reduce their expected returns. “There’s a little bit of adjustment of expected returns, but they’re coming down in small steps,” says Andreas Koester, Zurich-based head of asset allocation and currency at UBS Global Asset Management, the institutional investment arm of Swiss bank UBS, which repeats in fourth place with €1.0 trillion in assets. Few investors are willing to slash expected returns aggressively, though, so they are trying to fill the gap between today’s low yields and their return targets by taking more risk and pursuing more active strategies, Koester says.