PODCAST: How covid halted strategic sophistication

Having paused, investors will once again begin expanding into more adventurous areas, says William Nicol of M&G.


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In this latest podcast in the Spotlight series, we speak with William Nicol, chief investment officer for private and alternative assets at London-based investment manager M&G. He says that, since the onset of the pandemic, investors have been doubling up on their existing exposures rather than allocating to new areas such as specialty finance. But he sees this as a “slight halt,” and says that some of the complicated approaches are coming back into fashion as LPs once again seek higher returns.

Nicol also reflects on how the cycle is very different this time around, why investors are less inclined to think of illiquidity as a problem and how the impact of inflation on private debt “vastly depends” on the type of strategy you’re invested in.