Every year, we hold several editorial advisory board meetings for the Europe, Americas and Asia Pacific editions of this publication. These meetings consist of a series of facilitated roundtable discussions based on topics suggested by the participants. Sifting through the more than 50 different topics submitted this past fall by the investor, investment manager and consultant members of the board, several key themes seem to underlie our editorial board members’ primary concerns these days.

Pricing. The issue that seems to be most top of mind, no matter in which region investors are operating, is pricing. Despite the fact some feel they can justify pricing from both a fundamental- and a relative-value basis, everyone seems concerned about how you make money in a market that increasingly appears to be priced to perfection.

Interest rates. Closely related to pricing concerns are those about the gradual upward trend in interest rates. T