BNPP AM creates DC division to harness PACTE, PEPP opportunities
New Paris-based department also reflects demographic and macroeconomic changes
French pension reserve fund contributes to €5bn tech investment pledge
French institutional investors have pledged to invest €5bn as the government seeks to promote France as a hub for tech companies
France: PACTE changes the landscape
The new PACTE law will transform pension saving in France
System reform: A hot political plot
Pension reforms have reached a second stage as President Macron seeks to push through radical changes
Pension regimes: The second pillar evolves
The second-pillar pension regime for private sector employees, AGIRC-ARRCO, is entering a new phase of its development
Briefing: Deep tensions threaten EU vision
This is not a commentary on the UK within or without Europe. Brexit has been a compelling distraction but it is one macroeconomic strand in a complex world. The overwhelming coverage has also moved attention away from key internal tensions within the European project.
A ‘big bang’ in pensions
The new PACTE law has placed the emphasis on asset managers
How Europe’s pension sectors are preparing for Brexit
IPE asked regulators and industry bodies in EU member states how they have been preparing for the UK’s scheduled departure from the bloc on 31 October
French €30bn civil service pension fund completes tobacco exit
A gradual divestment process reached its conclusion this year and the scheme has signed the Tobacco Free Finance Pledge
Investment restrictions eased for France’s €30bn ERAFP
Cap on equities and unlisted asset funds raised from 40% to 45% as part of changes to regulatory investment framework
France expands scope for new pension vehicles in IORP II bill
Government calls on insurance sector to take up opportunity offered by FRPS vehicles and help make a success of the PACTE law’s retirement savings reform
France: Act I of the pensions big bang?
The government’s PACTE law could transform the pensions landscape
FRR launches ESG portfolio analysis searches and updates RI policy
Responsible investment strategy for 2019-23 includes aligning portfolio with 1.5-2°C warming trajectory and defining an ‘extra-financial risk budget’
French government adviser delivers pension reform recommendations
Report elaborates vision of a points-based universal system to replace the 42 schemes that form the current mandatory state-backed system
France’s ERAFP keeps its eye on portfolio diversification
The €30bn pension fund is seeking to shift investments towards equities, private equity, real estate and infrastructure
France’s Agirc-Arrco cuts deficit, adopts SRI charter
The reported deficit in the newly merged schemes fell from €2.9bn to €1.6bn ahead of a targeted return to financial equilibrium in 2020
€28bn nuclear decommissioning fund adopts new MSCI climate indices
Energy giant EDF says it believes in ‘enabling transition to a low carbon economy’ and plans to allocate to assets benchmarked to MSCI’s third range of climate-related indices
BlackRock cites auto-enrolment, UK’s NEST as model for French reform
Asset manager sets out a host of recommendations for pension saving reforms contained in the Pacte law, including auto-enrolment and pensions dashboards
ESG roundup: LSE buys analytics provider Beyond Ratings
Also: Exclusions lead sustainable investment surge in Switzerland; EIOPA consults on climate change and Solvency II; UK minister says schemes ‘doing the right thing’ on climate change
France’s FRR awards €1.7bn domestic, European small cap mandates
Award concludes search launched in April last year, with US small cap and Japanese equity searches still outstanding
France: PACTE changes the landscape
The new PACTE law will transform pension saving in France
System reform: A hot political plot
Pension reforms have reached a second stage as President Macron seeks to push through radical changes
Pension regimes: The second pillar evolves
The second-pillar pension regime for private sector employees, AGIRC-ARRCO, is entering a new phase of its development
A ‘big bang’ in pensions
The new PACTE law has placed the emphasis on asset managers
Swiss corporate pensions slide into red for first time in two years
Coverage ratio down by 4% in third quarter, consultancy reports
Pensions in a hostile climate
Outside the realm of US public pension plans, where generous return assumptions and inflated discount rates are common, the medium and long-term outlook for asset classes is of serious importance to most pension funds.
Storing up future pain
Anyone who back in 2008 had accurately predicted what monetary policy would look like today would certainly have been regarded as unhinged.
Do not let costs become an obsession
Our report this month on management and outsourcing discusses how pension funds must increasingly rely on external organisations to analyse their portfolios, particularly from a cost perspective.
Time to talk pensions
At a press briefing last month, Bill Galvin, chief executive of the UK’s £68bn (€77bn) Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), emphasised the importance of improving its communication policy.
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Brussels People: Europe’s conservatives eye Africa
Describing himself as “the most senior elected Brit in Brussels” and speaking ahead of 29 March when he and the UK’s 72 other MEPs were set to relinquish their mandate in the European Parliament, Syed Kamall is keen to speak about matters other than Europe.
Firebrand targets supervision
One of the knottier issues in Brussels at the moment is the future of the European supervisory authorities
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