Private market fundraising kept a brisk pace in 2020, with total assets raised in excess of $315 billion.

Taiwan Semiconductor's rapid stock rise has added a big amount of market cap making it the No. 1 weighting in many emerging market indexes.

Fixed-income sectors rose again in 2020, with longer dated maturities posting double-digit returns, while asset classes overall returned 8%.

The Nasdaq Composite index returned more than 40% in 2020, outperforming all major equity indexes globally.

The U.S. dollar is continuing its slide against developed peers. It is still up significantly vs. emerging markets currencies in 2020.

Hedge funds are increasing exposure to the financial equities, while remaining overweight health care and underweight technology.

After an initial spike in bond yields, Federal Reserve intervention has brought bond spreads down to near pre-COVID-19 levels.

Positive vaccine news from Pfizer Inc. has had a dramatic impact on capital markets.

The next U.S. president and Congress will continue to have to balance security needs and defense spending.

Active bond strategies should be revisited given the low-rate environment. Over the past 10 years, active funds have preformed well, but with more risk.

Pensions & Investments is continually investing in new data and features. In the coming weeks, P&I will be launching a new charting tool, which will allow users to graph survey data over time to better understand trends. For instance, one will be able to see the increase of internally managed assets or the growth of target-date strategies.

U.S. institutions have record investments in real assets, which have been challenged thus far.

With long-term U.S. interest rates about 35 basis points off recent lows, bank stocks have started to catch up with other sectors' recovery.

Eaton Vance has consistently grown its AUM, partly by acquisitions. Custom portfolios and equity strategies make up about 60% of assets.

BlackRock's iShares AUM hit a record $2.3 trillion in the third quarter. The unit has added more than $1 trillion in the past five years.

Assets in 529 college savings plans stand at $373.5 billion, flat on the year, while the number of accounts continue to grow.

Pension volatility as measured by the NISA Pension Surplus Risk index fell in September, while the average funded status dropped to 86.1%.

The Federal Reserve holds almost 25% of the on-the-run U.S. 10-year note, overshadowing others.

If the Federal Reserve owns too much of the supply of 10-year U.S. Treasury notes, what will financial markets do?

Pension risk transfer activity is already at a record pace in 2020 led by a large amount of buy-in activity.

Money managers' stocks languish even though markets have mostly recovered in 2020. The largest managers continue to outperform.

After more than a 35% drop at the March lows, the S&P TSX index has rebounded. Revenue of companies fell modestly in the second quarter.

After a dramatic jump in March, the Federal Reserve's liquidity measures have helped push junk bond yields back down.

COVID-19 has had profound short-term impacts on the U.S. greenback.