Columns
Beyond green ambitions
Europe has lofty ambitions as it positions the European Green Deal as Europe’s growth plan for the coming decade and beyond
Time for a positive impact on investing
The focus on sustainability and impact investing is expected to continue to grow, with potential regulatory and policy responses having wide-ranging investment implications
Systemic risk may be underestimated
Underestimating the scale of systemic risk within the asset management industry is a mistake. For several years, macroprudential authorities including the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England have argued that asset management activities are becoming systemically more risky.
A precarious balance
Why has there not been another global financial crisis over the past decade? That is a more fruitful question than trying to predict when the next bout of market mayhem will hit.
Can we all be Canadian?
As we approach the 2020s, what have we learned about pension investing in the last 20 years?
The fiscal shift is no solution
There is a growing consensus that there needs to be a shift from extraordinary monetary policy to fiscal activism. Although quantitative easing (QE) will continue, there is a widespread recognition that its effects are diminishing.
Factor strategies should be based on scientific consensus
Investors should take note of the debate taking place within the factor investing industry. On one side, are those who support a purist approach to the definition of factors, arguing that factor strategies should be built using factor proxies that undergo rigorous scientific tests. Scientific Beta, the organisation linked to EDHEC Business School, is a vocal supporter of this approach.
The easy option
The Dutch social affairs’ minister Wouter Koolmees has spared millions of Dutch pensioners last month from having their pension payments cut in 2020, after the government granted pension funds a year’s grace period to restore coverage ratios.
Guest viewpoint: Bob Collie
“With DC now globally dominant, the momentum that has been building is likely to continue”
Long-term matters: Financial sector employees can help win the climate change fight
More than a thousand Google employees have signed a public letter calling on the company to take bold action on climate change. They joined employees in other companies such as Amazon and Microsoft who published similar letters, calling their companies to take real action on climate change in response to the climate crisis.
Bold thinking needed
Muted and constrained economic growth, continued low yields and quantitative easing, combined with a poor investment return outlook, loom over Europe’s pension sector.
Bond bubble threatens emerging markets
Systemic risk debate intensifies
What's in a pensions minister?
Guest viewpoint: Kerrin Rosenberg
Long Term Matters: Time to shit or get off the (ESG) pot
Pensions in a hostile climate
Storing up future pain
Do not let costs become an obsession
Time to talk pensions
Guest viewpoint: Jennifer Choi & Brian Hoehn
Long-term matters: How capitalists can save the Amazon from capitalism
A Franco-German challenge
Market paradoxes demand new ideas
China’s human rights abuses pose challenges
Letter From US: Concerns over common ownership unabated
No matter who wins the presidential election this November the issue of concentration of US corporate ownership by the Big Three money managers – BlackRock, Vanguard and SSGA – will not go away
Letter from the US: US pension funds braced for lower for longer
The last edition of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) twice-yearly Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) points to the risks that lower-for-longer yields pose, especially for pension funds.
Letter from the US: Industry debates private equity role in 401(k) plans
Should those who invest through 401(k) retirement plans have greater access to private equity?
Letter from The US: How boards can hurt pension plans
US state and local pension funds manage over $4trn (€3.6trn) in retirement assets for 20m active and retired plan members. But most of the funds are in bad financial shape.
Letter from Canada: Considering controversy
Pension funds have essentially one goal – invest and grow the fund for members. But what if money-making investments run afoul of environmental, social and governance practices?
Letter from the US: On a secure retirement path
The most significant changes to US retirement plans in more than a decade look set to be approved by Congress. On 23 May, the House of Representatives passed the Secure Act – Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement – by 417-3, and the Senate is also likely to approve it, with President Donald Trump unopposed.
Book review: Only the Best Will Do
Peter Seilern, the founder of Seilern Investment Management, has a reputation for investing in ‘quality growth companies.’ In reading his credo ‘Only the Best Will Do,’ you realise this career-long passion reaches almost religious dedication. Never mention ‘value investing’ in his presence.
Book review: Achieving Investment Excellence
Fix asset allocation and the numbers will follow. This rule of thumb originated from an influential study published in 1986, which showed that 93.6% of variations in a portfolio’s returns are due to asset allocation policy.
