Accounting: Conntectivity between ISSB and IASB on accounting standards
Guest viewpoint: Pensions and the EU's plans on social protection
Greenwashing: Teasing out the intentional from the accidental
Germany's VBL: A transformative journey
UK: A review of the LDI debacle
Japan: New hand on the tiller
Fixed income: New beginning for bond investors
Top news
UK travel pension fund secures £900m buy-in deal with Aviva
The buy-in and eventual buyout with Aviva will ultimately result in a better outcome for the vast majority of members
Swiss pension funds discuss future mandates following UBS/Credit Suisse merger
An oligopoly of banks reduce options for clients, including Pensionskassen, competition and innovation, says Complementa
Sweden’s premium pension tenders to kick off with European large-cap equity
Fund Selection Agency announces asset category of first tender, says deadline will be end of August
ISSB seeks input on future research projects and workplan priorities
Expectations on the board to embark on new research and standard-setting projects must take account of the limits on the board’s resources, Faber says
Viewpoint: Differentiation – the future of professional pension trusteeship
When purchasing professional services, choice is good. Differentiated choice is even better.
Alecta declares ‘full respect’ for FSA launching risk management probe
Collectum says will await outcome of watchdog’s investigation before taking any action on ITP contract
APG unaffected by ABP’s switch to passive management
The fund’s asset manager is not planning any ‘radical changes’ to its organisation as a result of the decision
Ethos pushes Holcim to set emission targets for joint ventures
Holcim’s remuneration policy also needs reviewing
AP7 picks SimCorp in open tender for investment management system
Swedish state pensions giant cites future challenges as relevant to the tender, ahead of its expansion into alternatives
ISSB unveils plan to update SASB metrics for global relevance
Although standards are well established as a framework for sustainability reporting, critics say they are too focused on North American capital markets
Tackling the sustainability conundrum
With climate change and the loss of biodiversity seen as potential existential risks for humanity, it has become imperative to create and implement a sustainable form of capitalism
LCH: The other side of the tiller
Isabelle Girolami undoubtedly has a strong background in financial services, having worked for a range of very different institutions in very different roles. She was COO at the fixed income division of BNP Paribas, before going on to a similar role at Bear Stearns, the bank that failed early in 2008 and which was subsumed into JP Morgan. Prior to her current role at LCH she was global head of markets at Crédit Agricole.
Germany's VBL: A transformative journey
Michael Leinwand (pictured), CIO of Germany’s VBL, talks to Luigi Serenelli about the pension fund’s growth over the past years and about its evolving responsible investment strategy
Pension funds on the record: A new role for alternative investments for Veritas
The degree of diversification that alternative portfolios typically provide can be less than many institutions think. Veritas has reorganised its alternatives portfolio to deliver better diversification
Nikko Asset Management: Complex, creative thinking
Stefanie Drews is at home with complexity. She speaks several languages fluently, including Japanese, and tells us she still does her maths in Italian.
PZU TFI: Building the future of Polish pensions
Marcin Żółtek (pictured), CEO of PZU TFI, one of Poland’s largest managers of DC pension savings, tells Jakub Janas and Carlo Svaluto Moreolo about the firm’s role in the Polish pension system
Tangen defends higher pay for investment staff in unfair dismissal case
CEO of Norwegian SWF manager takes witness stand in Oslo court
Velliv chair calls CEO firing ‘unfortunate situation for everybody’
Danish pensions chief Steen Michael Erichsen ousted for private investment that broke company’s code
Japan: New hand on the tiller
Kazuo Ueda, is the first new governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) in 10 years. One of outgoing governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s last moves was to widen the yield curve control (YCC) band on 10-year bonds from +/-25bps to +/-50bps. The reaction from the bond market over the following few days was to trade to the new upper limit.
Emerging markets decarbonisation
The International Energy Agency estimates that developing economies and emerging markets are responsible for more than two-thirds of global carbon emissions.
Private equity fundamentals resilient in headwinds
The economy and markets are beset with headwinds, and private equity assets are unlikely to be impervious. The concerns with the asset class are wide-ranging, from difficult financing conditions to rising interest rates, squeezed corporate margins and closed exit routes.
US: Politics drive ESG debate
Three Republican candidates for the White House are vocal advocates against pension funds adopting environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment practices.
Australia: Caps, concessions and class war
The Australian Federal government recently moved to make a “modest” change to the nation’s superannuation system which, it says, will save A$2bn (€1.2bn) a year for its over-stretched budget.
Alecta’s crisis management
It can certainly hurt a pension provider when investments go badly, but an organisation’s next steps in response to disastrous losses are vital.
Viewpoint: Differentiation – the future of professional pension trusteeship
When purchasing professional services, choice is good. Differentiated choice is even better.
CDC: finally off the starting blocks
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) last month approved the Royal Mail Collective Pension Plan as the first registered collective defined contribution (CDC) scheme in the UK
Alecta’s crisis management
It can certainly hurt a pension provider when investments go badly, but an organisation’s next steps in response to disastrous losses are vital.
Blame will not solve the issues raised by the LDI crisis
The chain of events that led to the UK’s liability-driven investment (LDI) crisis, a high-profile inquiry by the UK Parliament, and a time of anxiety and introspection in the country’s pension industry, started well before then prime minister Liz Truss’s government and its somewhat reckless ‘growth plan’.
LDI lessons: be wary of future traps
After the global financial crisis of 2008-09, world leaders meeting at the Pittsburgh G20 summit mandated central clearing for derivatives. This was to allow for greater supervisory oversight and to mitigate against the unintended build-up of risks of the kind that almost toppled the financial system in the guise of over-the-counter credit default swaps.
Fixed income: New beginning for bond investors
A painful 2022 for fixed income means attractive opportunities and a possible normalisation in risk and return
Portfolio Strategy - Emerging Market Equities
The Adani corporate scandal in India brought the issue of corporate governance in emerging markets back to the fore. As Lynn Strongin Dodds finds, however, emerging market corporates are slowly adapting to the requirements of institutional investors in terms of governance.
Portfolio Strategy – Private debt
The rise in interest rates and inflation throughout 2022 brought traditional fixed-income assets back into focus for investors. The threat of a recession, the pressure on investors to maintain liquidity in portfolios and the ‘denominator effect’, which sees investors over-allocated to unlisted assets after a torrid 2022 for listed equities and bonds, are all facts that would suggest that private debt markets will suffer. However, investors are still backing experienced private debt managers and allocations to the asset class are forecast to grow further in the medium term.
Equities: Thematic funds tap into future trends
Themes have long captured the imagination of retail investors. Now institutions are showing interest, despite the lack of clear definitions
Asset Class Report - Fixed Income
Last year was the worst in recent decades for both government bonds and credit, with portfolio returns worse than most professionals have experienced in their careers. But is the tide finally shifting as inflation starts to moderate and terminal policy rates are in sight? In any case, geopolitical risks and inflation are not set to go away, and recession will inevitably take a toll on corporate issuers.
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