Institute of International Finance

The Institute of International Finance is the global association of the financial industry, with close to 450 members from 70 countries. Its mission is to support the financial industry in the prudent management of risks; to develop sound industry practices; and to advocate for regulatory, financial and economic policies that are in the broad interests of its members and foster global financial stability and sustainable economic growth. IIF members include commercial and investment banks, asset managers, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds, central banks and development banks.

Weekly Insight: Elephant in the room

Elephant in the room: the U.S. accounts for fully a third of all global government debt; Fewer countries likely to see above-trend growth in 2020; Our new “green flows” tracker shows a sharp pickup for Q1; H1 2019 IIF Survey of Long-term Investors: fewer concerns about trade tensions, China slowdown

Global Macro Views: A Destabilizing Dovish Shift from the Fed

The Fed has undertaken a remarkable dovish shift so far this year, which some believe has further to run given this year’s review of policy. From a global perspective, this dovish Fed shift is potentially destabilizing. Underlying inflation in Japan and the Euro zone is way below that in the US, and the dovish Fed shift makes ECB and BoJ efforts to reflate that much harder. For emerging markets, the dovish Fed shift could also turn into a mixed blessing. If the Fed succeeds in running the economy hot, longer-term yields will rise, a downside risk to our already more cautious EM capital flow projections.

Asset and Investment Management Survey - H1 2019

The H1 2019 IIF Long-Term Investor Survey was conducted among the IIF institutional investor membership in March 2019.

April 2019 Capital Flows to Emerging Markets

Our best predictor of global growth has turned a lot more positive. Alongside the dovish Fed, this paints a positive picture for risk assets. Surprisingly, however, EM currencies have been quite a mixed bag, and our high frequency tracking of flows shows a mixed rebound in Q1. We believe the underlying issue is that investors are over-positioned, with a positioning overhang after a decade of loose G-3 monetary policy. We therefore upgrade our capital flows projection to EM only modestly, with non-resident flows of $1,260 bn in 2019, after $1,135 bn in 2018.

Crypto Course Correction

The crypto industry moves into the new year reshaped by a tumultuous 2018. Despite ongoing regulatory and technical challenges, the underlying technology and crypto-based applications continue to move slowly towards mainstream adoption, as evidenced by recent private and official sector activity.

FRT Episode 31: Developments in Digital Assets

In this episode of FRT, we catch-up with Mark Wetjen, Managing Director, Head of Global Public Policy at The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) to discuss current trends in digital assets and take-aways from the recent IIF Digital Currency Roundtable.

In our first episode of All About the Green, Neil Gregory (IFC) and Sonja Gibbs (IIF) discuss the recently launched “Operating Principles for Impact Management” and share their thoughts on the criticality of impact investments, how they relate to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs), the differences between impact investing and other forms of responsible investing, as well as the importance of being able to measure impact within a robust investment framework.