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
Mandate roundup: Pension fund seeks green bond strategies via IPE Quest
Plus: €1.7bn Ircantec bond mandate, UK schemes appoint DC providers
France’s FRR preps return to US small caps
Plus: Tobacconists’ scheme seeks multi-asset management
Asset management roundup: Natixis to buy 25% stake in US manager WCM
Also: BMO to drop F&C brand, new Women in Finance charter signatories
Asset management roundup: BNPP partners with SME loan originator
Plus: Russell Investments wins transition management mandate from France’s FRR
Shareholders for Change gives voice to Europe’s small investors
New association of small institutional investors wants to tackle niche ESG topics
AXA IM to invest €100m as part of major corporate overhaul
Former NN Investment Partners CIO Hans Stoter to lead fixed income business as part of changes
France launches citizens’ pension reform input platform
Reform high commissioner Delevoye launches platform built on open democracy principles
Pensions at UK subsidiaries ‘an extra burden for French firms’
Report finds British DB schemes account for third of French parent company liabilities
France’s FRR addresses Brexit concerns in manager search
Pension reserve fund proposes workaround for UK managers bidding for small-cap equity mandates
France’s Af2i launches trustee financial training initiative
Initiative is the remit of a new ‘training and academic research’ committee
French public sector funds tender small cap, EM credit mandates
Both funds specify that managers must have regard to ESG considerations
Asset management roundup: ERAFP awards €2bn currency mandate
Also: JP Morgan and BlackRock partner for ESG indices; Amundi launches leveraged loan fund
Joseph Mariathasan: Why a Danish inn suggests a post-Brexit trade problem
The restoration of Danish links with India suggest post-Brexit trade deals for the UK will not be straightforward
The European asset owners aiming to make an ‘impact’
Various investors are prepping or considering impact-oriented investments
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
‘Step-change’ in number of UK schemes in funding surplus
37% of schemes in funding surplus in 2018 survey, up from 27% three years earlier
Accounting roundup: More work needed on ‘too big to fail’ banks
Plus: IASB eyes new pension standard, EU plots financial reporting ‘lab’
UK announces further review of audit market competitiveness
Competition and Markets Authority to fast-track probe into continued dominance of ‘Big Four’ auditors
Amended longevity tables may save providers up to 50bp in buffers
Slower increase in longevity after Heubeck fixes flaw
Longevity data was flawed, admits German consultancy
Revision expected later this month expected to lower longevity increase and with it buffer requirements
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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’
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