John Crabb

The Public Investment Fund will anchor a new State Street Investment Management ETF strategy focused on the Saudi Arabian equity market. The State Street Saudi Arabia Enhanced Active Equity UCITS ETF, listed in Frankfurt and London, will be the manager’s second PIF-anchored ETF, and the fifth fund globally backed by the sovereign wealth fund. Other Saudi-focused ETF products are listed on exchanges across Asia and Europe.

Regulatory changes are prompting institutional investors to increase exposure to digital assets — but they’re being cautious and investing through products rather than going direct.A March report from EY-Parthenon and Coinbase shows that three quarters of surveyed investors plan to increase digital asset allocations this year, with 29 percent of those planning for that allocation to comprise more than a 5 percent share of their portfolio.

As clients change how they seek information, wealth managers are entering a race to control when and where clients access advice.

Emerging markets are an unexpected beneficiary of the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and the infrastructure being built to sustain it.Although the bulk of AI innovation is coming from the U.S. and to a lesser extent China, the effects of the buildout are starting to surface in certain emerging markets.

Arctic activity was once focused on collaboration and scientific research. But as the polar ice cap melts, more military vessels than ever traverse northern waters and new commercial shipping lanes are becoming available to those able to navigate the icy waters.The region is being exploited for minerals and there is a widespread search for fossil fuels underway. And as activity in the region ramps up there is a greater need for more advanced infrastructure development.

A brutal selloff of public business development companies has left investors struggling with a stark question: Are steep discounts signaling that a wave of defaults is coming or has fear run ahead of fundamentals?Some public BDCs are trading have with discounts as high as 50 percent to net asset value. There is wide variance, often tied to perceptions of underlying credit quality.Sid Malhotra, CIO and co-founder at Kactus Capital, a New York-based single-family office, said he’s avoiding most public BDCs, focusing instead on a high-quality group with more modest discounts.

Northern Trust Wealth Management has appointed Beata Kirr to be the new chief investment officer of its global family office division.In the new role Kirr will oversee investment strategy for the wealth manager’s more than 550 ultra-high-net-worth clients, which have a combined $194 billion in assets.Kirr was most recently chief impact officer at The Copia Group, a middle-market private credit firm based in Chicago, where she spent almost three years.

T. Rowe Price has reorganized its U.S. institutional business around consultant relationships, illustrating the growing influence consultants have on allocation decisions.

Consolidation has transformed the wealth advisory sector, with firms racing to build scale through acquisitions. But some high-net-worth investors say the trend is creating opportunities for smaller multifamily offices that offer a more personalized approach.One prominent example is Pathstone Family Office. The firm has completed more than 15 acquisitions over the course of 14 years. Its acquisition of Hall Capital Partners pushed its assets above $100 billion. Other firms to follow a similar strategy include Corient and Focus Financial Partners.

IFLR's latest primer looks in depth at the most likely long-term replacement for the Libor benchmark interest rate