Perspective - Liability-driven investing: DIY LDI
Guest Viewpoint - Nicholas Benes: The stock exchange of the future
Strategically speaking - WTW: Democratising private markets
Portfolio Strategy - Inflation: A new regime
How we run our money: Church Commissioners for England
Country Report - Pensions in The Netherlands (March 2022)
Special Report - Regulation
Top news
People moves: Janus Henderson appoints new CEO
Janus Henderson, HSBC AM, Robeco, Federated Hermes, Muzinich, Mirabaud, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust, FIR
PostNL pension fund invests €400m in new SDG funds
The funds, which will be managed by Hermes and M&G, will be made available to all fiduciary clients of Kempen in the Netherlands and the UK
Pension funds in Nordics stick with China exposure but alert to risks
KLP’s Koch-Hagen says geopolitical shifts could make China a greater source of diversification - or else a riskier investment
Climate roundup: Active managers don’t use climate indices, says pensions group
Plus: WTW’s marketplace launches climate reporting hub
Nordic pension funds free to invest in defence as arms sector thrives
‘We see it as logical that institutional investors invest in companies whose production is necessary for a national defence,’ says Sampension CIO
‘Milestone’ reached as SEC proposes climate-related disclosure rule
Proposed US rule passed 3-1 by Commissioners and will be subject to 60-day comment period
IOPS sets out good practice for making pension projections, warns of pitfalls
Forecasts can be ‘powerful tool’ to manage people’s expectations and sway their retirement decisions, says international body
TELA says 96% of Finnish occupational pension assets invested responsibly
Analysis shows nearly all the system’s €255bn assets invested in line with UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment
UK pension schemes sign buy-in deals with PIC, Just Group
Air Canada UK Trust Fund and Keysight Technologies UK Limited Retirement Benefits Plan embark on de-risking journey
Dutch retail scheme awards €100m private debt mandate to Tikehau Capital
DNB’s mixed roles in pension transition confuse sector
Nordic pension funds expect ECB tightening as war adds to inflation
German government plans €500m cut earmarked to finance first pillar scheme
Nordea re-enters Danish pensions market with €270m Topdanmark buy
LGPS pool Brunel now ‘breaking even’
Finnish pension insurers’ solvency stronger despite higher equity allocations
Dutch retail scheme sticks to €15 admin cost goal
2021 UK pension risk transfer volumes hit £43.9bn with record ‘core’
IFRSs are well-equipped to tackle sustainability reporting challenges, says IASB chair
Swiss roundup: Reform mitigates AHV deficit
Denmark urgently needs an energy independence plan, says pensions lobby
Investment pool duo launches new funds claiming £4.6bn in LGPS assets
Asset manager roundup: AB to acquire private alternatives firm CarVal
TELA says 96% of Finnish occupational pension assets invested responsibly
Analysis shows nearly all the system’s €255bn assets invested in line with UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment
Viewpoint: The pathway to net zero needs Scope 3 emissions
Accounting for Scope 3 is challenging, but integrating these emissions allows for better monitoring of pathways to decarbonisation
Strategically speaking - WTW: Democratising private markets
WTW’s ill-fated merger with Aon, announced at the outset of the pandemic in early March 2020, would have shaken up the corporate insurance brokerage market. It would also have created an outsourced CIO (OCIO) giant to compete with Mercer in terms of delegated assets under management (AUM).
How we run our money: Church Commissioners for England
Church Commissioners for England CIO, Tom Joy, tells Susanna Rust about the fund’s pursuit of genuine diversification and responsible investment.
On the record: Emerging markets
Despite the current volatility and geopolitical tensions, European pension funds continue to actively seek returns from emerging market investments.
Strategically speaking: Eyes on the next frontier
“Riddle me this,” asks Yves Choueifaty, founder, president and CIO of French asset manager TOBAM. “Why would 70 people who are not TOBAM employees be at our Paris headquarters today?”
How we run our money: Apoteket Pensionsstiftelse
Gustav Karner (pictured), CEO and CIO of Apoteket’s pension foundation, talks to Carlo Svaluto Moreolo about the institution’s renewed strategy
Dutch retail scheme awards €100m private debt mandate to Tikehau Capital
Asset manager expands global footprint with new office in Israel
People moves: Robeco adds to quant equity research team
Robeco, SOKA-BAU, Unigestion, KLP, BNPP PAM, WTW, First Sentier, JP Morgan AM, Comgest, PineBridge, GAM, Standard Life, AMF
Briefing: Now is not the time to give up on emerging markets
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” This classic Al Pacino line has applied to many emerging market investors in recent years. Like Michael Corleone, drawn by the potential offered by bold business opportunities, they have accepted to take higher levels of risks in a quest to obtain better results. However, similarly to the family at the heart of The Godfather saga, the outcome of such bets has often caused a lot of pain.
Briefing: High yield off to a rough start to the year
High yield did not have a good start to the year. Rising inflation and a more hawkish central bank tone in the US and UK triggered panic selling in January. However, as the dust settles and bad news is priced in, the asset class looks more appealing than other fixed-income segments. Easy pickings may be gone, though, and opportunities will have to be selected carefully.
Briefing – ESG data: material innovations
As environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations have risen in importance among investors in recent years, so the subject of data quality has become an essential issue.
News Notes: Private investing ‘levels up’ playing field
The UK’s recent government white paper – ‘Levelling up the United Kingdom’ – forcefully pushes for private investing. In it, Prime Minister Boris Johnson claims he is determined to “break that link between geography and destiny, so that it makes good business sense for the private sector to invest in areas that have for too long felt left behind”.
Notes from the Netherlands: Inflation could bolster pension reforms
The Dutch pension agreement, paving the way for a change from a defined benefit to defined contribution-type system, was concluded in the pre-COVID summer of 2019. But it is still waiting to be implemented, with the delay blamed on the protracted negotiations following Dutch parliamentary elections in March 2021.
Viewpoint: Greenwashing needs to be pinned down
On 10 March 2022, the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) turns one. In terms of how it was drafted and how it has been implemented, it hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory, although it was high time regulators got involved to try to bring some order into ESG-land.
Viewpoint: A new kind of political risk
Peter Kraneveld argues that investors should take the possibility of future economic and financial sanctions against other countries seriously
Viewpoint: The pathway to net zero needs Scope 3 emissions
Accounting for Scope 3 is challenging, but integrating these emissions allows for better monitoring of pathways to decarbonisation
Viewpoint: As inflation psychology kicks in pension plans must act
Pascal Blanqué, chair of the Amundi Institute, says it’s a mistake to assume the inflation spike is merely a blip
Guest viewpoint: Women in corporate workforce
While diversity, equity and inclusion in the workforce may mean different things in different societies, gender diversity has the same meaning across the world
‘Levelling up’ white paper targets LGPS funds to support local areas
The UK government’s long-awaited ‘Levelling Up the United Kingdom’ white paper, published last month, includes several bold missions to help achieve greater equality. One is to call on Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds to publish plans for increasing local investment.
Portfolio Strategy – Hedge Funds: Macro bets on
Global macro funds should do better in the current market environment – but not all will thrive and investor due diligence will be key
Portfolio Strategy – Fixed Income Report
As the earnings season gets under way in early January, we look at 2021’s bumper level of bank debt issuance, in particular from Bank of America, JP Morgan and Citigroup, which have all recorded big increases in deposits. Banks look set to benefit from rising rates this year, but also from their historically large capital buffers, diverse funding levels and central bank liquidity backstops and offer attractive valuations.
Asset Class Report: Equities – Focus on tech and social media
Oh MAAAN! FAANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) are definitely due a rebrand now Facebook has restyled itself as Meta Platforms, Inc. While a rebrand can refresh perceptions, Facebook’s underlying business issues look more intractable, posing questions for long-term investors. We look at two topics in our equities report: how big tech companies are maturing, and how social media companies’ activities are dividing investor opinions.
Asset Class Report: Private Equity
Co-investment in private equity is easier said than done: we look at what it takes to be a successful co-investor. We also look at Africa where there are an array of opportunities for investors
Emerging Market Debt Report
Our opening article in this report looks at emerging market private credit. In EMs there is a $100bn corporate funding gap with 90% of lending through banks. But we find EMD managers broadly cautious overall, particularly on China, with interviews conducted before the Evergrande story broke. Lastly, we look at Latin America, where investors encounter populism and social unrest but sustainability bond issuance is booming.
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