Joseph Mariathasan: The Macron phenomenon
France’s new president is a stark contrast to counterparts in the US and UK, but his work has only started
ERAFP plans €50m low carbon equity fund investments
Fund selection was inspired by performance on a virtual asset management platform
ESG integration helps returns, volatility: State Street survey
80% of institutional investors were satisfied or very satisfied with returns from ESG-tilted allocations
Wider proxy voting scope behind Candriam 2016 activity 'surge'
Candriam doubled its company meetings last year, while French asset managers expanded their international activity
Mandate roundup: Ircantec on the hunt for dedicated transition manager
Plus: NEST renews proxy voting contract, SP Forbo extends MN fiduciary contract
Opinion: No going back for France
IPE deputy editor Daniel Ben-Ami on the new-look politics of Europe’s second-most populous country
French investor association sets out pre-election wish-list
Open letter to presidential candidates sets out proposals on Brexit, regulation, real economy financing and more
France publishes FRPS rules for insurer pension funds
New law sets out rules governing ‘fonds de retraite professionelle supplémentaire’ to free up insurers’ assets
ESG roundup: First Austrian pension fund signs Montreal Carbon Pledge
Plus: ERAFP awards €4.6bn of European equity mandates
Asset manager roundup: Amundi teams up with energy agency
Plus: CFA study puts industry at ‘existential crossroads’, iM Square targets growth
French private sector schemes cut deficit with €2bn investment gain
Pension reserve funds due to merge in bid to tackle funding deficit
ESG roundup: French association addresses presidential candidates
Plus: Responsible investing becoming more important for alternative investment management
ESG round-up: Swiss association recommends arms company exclusions
Plus: AMP Capital decides divestments under new ethical framework, Ircantec coal exit update, PRI proxy voting declaration system
Fund managers relieved as Rutte triumphs in Dutch elections
Netherlands expected to get a centre-right government coalition, but negotiations likely to be drawn out
France's FRR nets 5% gain through EM, high yield, equity
Pension reserve fund’s return-seeking portfolio returns 8.2%, hedging portfolio 3.1%
FRR invites bids for ‘new generation’ cash flow matching mandates
New mandates to replace those put in place for LDI strategy after 2010 pensions reform
France's Ircantec slashes govvie target in strategy overhaul
New strategic asset allocation from December places more weight on equities, credit, real assets
Major European investors back France green bond ‘milestone’
Dutch pension managers buy €967m, while ERAFP and Ircantec join big French crowd
French pension reserve fund awards private placement mandates
Mandates are part of €600m allocation to domestic private debt
Mandate roundup: FRR, ERAFP, Nutreco, SPT
French reserve fund appoints new ESG managers while civil service fund adds climate change researchers
Pensions In France: Why make it simple?
French pension schemes are up in arms over plans for a decree they say imposes harmful constraints on how they manage their assets. Susanna Rust reports
Asset Allocation: A diversification call
Gail Moss writes that French pension providers are looking to diversify their asset allocation to counter political and economic uncertainty
Ircantec raises risk profile
Appointing an overlay manager is the corollary of a new strategic asset allocation at the €9.8bn French public sector scheme. Susanna Rust reports
Accounting roundup: BP, Glencore under pressure on climate change
Also: IASB puts pension accounting project on hold but presses on with new reporting standards for insurers
Perpetuum mobile
The Dutch people are used to drawn out pension reform
Politics needs a longer lens
It is necessary to come to terms with the end of left and right
Lending risks are exaggerated
Patient investors will benefit from an exposure to alternative credit
The tribulations of a democratic SWF
Government indicates that unlisted infrastructure brings on board new risks that the Norwegian public will not like ‘Discretionary bets’ and ‘operational mistakes’ seen as big risks that the oil fund should avoid
Digital Edition
Registered users are entitled to the first digital issue of IPE with the compliments of the IPE.com team.
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EU seeks to avert Brexit arbitrage
Strong words on Brexit are flying in political circles. But behind the theatre, concerns about the future of London’s fund management sector are emerging
Letter from Brussels: A warm reception for PEPP
In contrast to complaints that Brussels’s legislation burdens the financial sector, the European Commission may be gratified by the positive response to its flagship Capital Markets Union (CMU) programme.
Letter from Brussels: Brexit and equivalence
Nothing could be clearer. For the financial sector, at least, there is nothing to fear from Brexit. All the UK has to do is to apply to the EU’s rules – the crucial term ‘equivalence’
Letter from Brussels: Resaver’s first stage kicks off
The European Commission’s project to set up a pension scheme for research and development professionals whose careers take them across EU borders has finally reached its first stages of operation.
Letter from Brussels: Unclear on clearance
The prolongation for 18 months of pension funds’ exemption from posting collateral when trading over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives is leading PensionsEurope to seek clarification.
Letter from Brussels: EU focus on tax tricks
There is increasing attention in Brussels on company reporting, taxation and offshore financial centres. The G20 and some OECD countries have demanded country-by-country reporting rules for multinational companies with a turnover over €750m
Letter from Brussels: Pan-EU private schemes for 2017?
Legislation proposing pan-EU personal pension products (PEPPs) could be tabled in 2017, according to the European Commission
Letter from Brussels: A vision for cross-border workers
A former director of the European Association of Paritarian Institutions (AEIP) has proposed a new option for occupational pensions that could help the large number of workers whose careers take them across EU internal borders.
Letter from Brussels: Weighty in-tray for new CMU commissioner
Valdis Dombrovskis has assumed responsibility as commissioner in charge of the flagship Capital Markets Union project. But he has also assumed the added complication of the withdrawal of the UK
Letter from Brussels: Posted worker woes
It will not be the first time that proposed revisions to EU rules affecting finance and pensions get stuck in a logjam between interests groups
Letter from Brussels: Tax targeting continues
Pressure to clean up the financial sector has led to copious legislation from Brussels.
Letter from Brussels: Ethical pressures mount
There are plenty of indicators of rising pressure to advance ethical standards across the financial sector. One outcome takes the form of mountains of clean-up legislation, including from Brussels.
Letter from Brussels: Beefing up the CMU
Inadequacy of European national court systems in the financial sphere is due for overhaul. Upgrade is necessary if the EU’s capital markets union programme (CMU) is going to get anywhere, according to a high-status paper
Letter from Brussels: Race to upgrade EFSI
Legislative moves to support the EU’s European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) are being rushed through Brussels. But, so far, evidence of any torrent of fund movement by the institutional investment sector across EU frontiers has yet to emerge.
Letter from Brussels: A simmering conflict
Conflict continues to simmer over the issue of passport rights for non-EU-domiciled hedge funds across the EU
Letter from Brussels: A lawyer’s feast
It is a case of tackling one challenge after another in the Capital Markets Union (CMU). According to the European Commission, the present morass of different national insolvency rules creates a barrier to the flow of capital across the EU.
Letter from Brussels: Cross-border challenge for IORP II
IORP II may have cleared the European Parliament’s committee stage but amendments tabled to the second directive covering occupational pensions since 2003 are so radical that it would be unwise to forecast its future.
Letter from Brussels: Focus on low returns
Dismally low returns on EU pension fund investments over 15 years? The allegation comes in a study by Better Finance, the European Federation of Investors & Financial Services Users. The report, Pensions Savings: The Real Return, points to excessive fees, points to other charges, and badly framed taxation rules, as the culprits.
Letter from Brussels: Pressure builds on tax havens
Brussels’ financial focus is on aggressive corporate tax planning and the related question of tax havens. This concerns the hedge fund ‘passport’ rights to do business across the EU and compliance of the offshore jurisdictions where they are domiciled to EU norms.
Letter from Brussels: A tricky path ahead
The process of making pensions policy in Brussels between now and end of the year resembles two juggernauts moving towards each other