‘Brutal’ stock markets hurt FRR’s return in 2018
French reserve fund posts 5.2% investment loss after return-seeking assets fall 8%
IORP II: How the EU directive has reshaped the pensions industry
IPE explores how the IORP II directive has been implemented across EU member states
France’s Sacra latest to launch new FRPS pension vehicle
Insurance sector scheme turning into an ‘FRPS’ with €3bn investment portfolio
AXA to build private debt partnership with Capzanine
AXA Group companies buy out Eurazeo stake to improve client access to mid-cap private debt assets
ERAFP awards ‘unbenchmarked’ EM corporate bond mandate
Portfolio run by Aberdeen to comprise conviction holdings meeting certain ESG criteria
ESG: France’s Article 173: taking stock
France’s ground-breaking reporting duty for institutional investors is being reassessed after a two-year test period
IPE Conference: Quantitative v qualitative in impact investing
Asset owners from Ireland, Sweden, France and the UK argue that numbers aren’t the only way of measuring impacts
PRI signatories elect new board members
Laetitia Tankwe, adviser to Ircantec’s president, joins two incumbent asset owner representatives in being elected
IPE Conference: PensionDanmark is Europe’s best pension fund
CEO Torben Möger Pedersen takes solo award, while AP4, FRR, ERAFP and ÄVWL are all multiple winners
France’s ERAFP reveals successor to Desfossés
Laurent Galzy appointed CEO of the €30bn pension fund for a four year term
Aviva gets green light for €4bn pension fund launch in France
‘Aviva Retraite Professionnelle’ is first FRPS vehicle to launch since 2016 reform
France’s PERCO company pension plans near €17bn in assets
Asset managers looking forward to pension savings boost from PACTE law
Desfossés to leave €30bn French public service pension fund
ERAFP chief executive to leave in December amid wide-ranging reform of the French system
Melbourne Mercer: Netherlands beats Denmark as world’s top system
Finland takes third spot; Spain debuts with a C grade for its system
Ircantec unveils oil and gas divestment and engagement plan
Scheme to dump traditional bond holdings, shares in specialised and non-European majors
Asset management roundup: DWS partners with Tikehau for alts ‘alliance’
Plus: eVestment secures undisclosed consultant and fee data for new service; UBP enters impact investing space
ESG roundup: Amundi unveils plan to step up responsible investment
Plus: Canadian pensions giant teams up with Generation for long-term investments; Hope for impact reporting ‘coalescence’
Asset management roundup: Tech ETFs launched, TOBAM cuts carbon
Lyxor and Invesco launch tech-based exchange-traded funds, TOBAM cuts its carbon footprint, and IM Global Partners adds liquid alts
European dividend payments break records in Q2
Total company payouts hit new highs in France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Ireland
Mandate roundup: €5.7bn French scheme hunts ‘flexible allocation’ manager
Plus: FRR adds BlackRock to transition manager roster; Finland’s Keva hires fixed income technology provider
Loi PACTE: Seeking workplace simplicity
Loi PACTE proposal aims to simplify and unify employee supplementary savings regimes
En Marche for pension reform
President Emmanuel Macron’s promised pension system reform is a work in progress
Pension Regimes: Compulsory schemes
Liberté, egalité, diversité: an outline of France’s pension regimes
Af2i: Open for business
Jean-François Boulier, president of Af2i outlines his association’s activities and ambitions
UK audit inquiry reignites ‘illegal dividends’ dispute
UK and international rules on distributable reserves have ‘inconsistencies’, accountancy body admits, reigniting long-running debate
Accounting roundup: Kingman on the FRC; Carillion audit report
Also: FRC reports on current and future use of artificial intelligence in accounting and corporate reporting
Investment self help
Many people start their new year with diets, exercise, or perhaps a dose of self-help. Bookshops are well stocked with guides to better working, living, thinking, sleeping and even breathing.
Wrong on the recession
The clouds darkened last month. Forecasts of the world’s economics prospects became distinctly gloomier.
Beyond green bonds
Green finance is booming. Interest in green finance is booming even more.
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Banking on life after politics
At 49, Brian Hayes is young man by political standards. Having started in Irish politics early with his appointment to the Irish Senate in the mid 1990s, Hayes was elected to the Dáil, the lower house, before he was 30, taking a seat for the Fine Gail party.
Brussels People – Lieve Wierinck: Building on Europe’s scientific base
Lieve Wierinck’s main political passion is ensuring the EU takes full practical advantage of Europe’s excellent scientific base
Brussels People: Sven Giegold, MEP
While he derives some satisfaction from advances in green energy and the like, Sven Giegold is unhappy that most global investment can still be classed as environmentally unsustainable.
Letter from Brussels: Brussels seeks to bolster secondary market in non-performing loans
Are non-peforming loans an investor’s dream come true? Or do they represent immeasurable risks?
Letter from Brussels: Focus on pension products and supervision ahead of elections
Tensions are rising in Brussels as the EU institutional mandate approaches its end ahead of the Parliamentary elections in May 2019, and the Commission has already ceased issuing new proposals in the absence of legislative time.
Letter From Brussels: CMU urgency mounts
The race is on to complete the EU’s flagship Capital Markets Union project before the mandates of the Commission and Parliament elapse next year
Letter from Brussels: Campaign to boost pan-EU distribution of UCITS and AIFs
Another step by Brussels to ease financing to business across the EU comes with measures to facilitate the cross-border distribution of investment funds
Letter from Brussels: Who cares about our €3.5trn?
PensionsEurope is concerned about a Brexit ‘no deal’ and is calling for negotiators to pay heed to the €3.54trn sector’s interests
Letter From Brussels: Corporate tax reform in view
Radical upgrades to the EU’s corporate tax base norms have never been so close to fruition
Letter From Brussels: Default guarantee option dominates debate on PEPP
Europe’s asset management industry is lobbying against any mandatory guaranteed default option in the third-pillar PEPP proposal
Letter From Brussels: Brexit focus moves to pensions
As the risk of a no-deal Brexit comes into focus, attention is turning to ways to mitigate the damage across financial services, including asset management and pensions
Letter from Brussels: Easier securitisation on the horizon
The EU’s securitisation package has finally passed through the European Parliament and Council. However, the new rules will not be applied until January 2019
Letter from Brussels: Opposition to mission creep
The EU’s controversial mandate for a radical shake up of financial supervision has received a cool reception from the pensions sector as well as smaller EU members
Letter From Brussels: Court for international investor disputes on the horizon
International investors in the EU have for decades been suffering from woeful dispute settlement proceedings when involved in cases against public authorities
Letter From Brussels: Pension rights for posted workers
Discussions over the payment of social costs for workers from central and eastern European countries posted temporarily to wealthier EU countries are playing a major role in the attempt to update existing directives
Letter from Brussels: Tax threatens PEPP proposal
At first sight, the benefits of the European Commission’s Pan European Personal Pension (PEPP) regulation proposal seem clear. But it did not take long for commentators to point out the considerable hurdles
Letter from Brussels: Reboot for Capital Markets Union
The European Commission’s “further steps to drive forward the Capital Markets Union (CMU)” outline nine new priority legislative actions to solve the EU’s long-term cross-border investment challenge
Letter from Brussels: 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’