All IPE articles in January 2021 (Magazine)
View all stories from this issue.
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Special ReportAccounting Matters - IAS 19: the negative view
Negative interest rates are probably the most daring policy move most of us will ever see. The idea that a borrower is paid to take out a loan, but a saver is penalised for setting aside money for their retirement turns our understanding of the fundamentals of finance on its head. But Europe has had them for more than a decade. And if the experience of today’s financial crisis is anything to go by, it will do so for a while longer yet. So where does this leave defined benefit (DB) sponsors and their accountants?
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - January 2021
US COVID-19 figures were rising rapidly at the time of writing. Western European figures were divided. Many showed a climbdown from the second wave but Germany, the UK and the Netherlands were faced with growing figures. Japan’s statistics were up, forming a third wave. In a few weeks, we will know how the deployed vaccines work in practice.
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InterviewsExit Interview: Peter Borgdorff - “I wasn’t the specialist… and I think that was my advantage”
Polder in the Netherlands is the low-lying land reclaimed from the sea. By extension, it also refers to the highly developed social contract system between politics, business and labour.
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FeaturesAhead of the curve: Options trading as a portfolio diversifier: pilot or passenger?
Options can provide insurance against market volatility, but require detailed knowledge to ensure success
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Asset Class ReportsInvestment Grade Credit: Always a demand for quality
Capital markets are fluctuating between optimism and pessimism
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: Don’t anticipate radical reform
The new Joe Biden administration is unlikely to revolutionise US pension plans, but it could broaden the base of workers able to join defined contribution plans such as 401(k)s. It may also cancel recent rules and return to the previous regulations set under Barack Obama.
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Asset Class ReportsAsset class report – Investment grade credit
The US credit market is heading for change under new President Joe Biden’s administration
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Special ReportDefined contribution: Australia's super review re-opens old battlegrounds
The Callaghan report on Australia’s universal superannuation system has rekindled a row between the government and the labour movement
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Country ReportCEE – Poland: Auto-enrolment limps to the finishing line
Lack of trust underpins poor take-up of new plans
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FeaturesStrategically Speaking: Hendrik Bartel, TruValue Labs
What makes ESG data providers stand out? For TruValue Labs, the answer is to apply AI and machine learning to thousands of unstructured data sources to enhance ESG investment processes
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Opinion PiecesBiodiversity can be measured
Last year was clearly the year of the pandemic. Perhaps the connection between zoonotic disease and biodiversity loss may explain why it has also been the year that biodiversity has become a theme of great interest for investors. Yet current environmental, social and governance (ESG) data and metrics do not cover biodiversity adequately.
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Special ReportDefined contribution: ESG not enough to get young on board
Engaging younger savers with their defined contribution pension pots requires far more than just an up-to-date responsible investment policy
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InterviewsExit Interview: Jordi Jofra - Still thinking outside the box
It is well into Spain’s lockdown and Jordi Jofra is ensconced in a village 40km from his former office in Barcelona. One of his lockdown boxes ticked has been to finish reading Men without Women, Haruki Murakami’s best-selling collection of short stories on men and alienation – perhaps appropriate for the times.
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FeaturesBriefing: Japan emerging from its invisible lockdown
Japan is all too often portrayed as being different from other countries. Not just distinctive in the obvious sense that every country has its own national peculiarities. Instead, somehow unique in a way that makes it stand out from every other country.
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FeaturesBriefing: Still a strong case for US stimulus
The next awaited US stimulus programme remains a mystery. Congress must agree on funding specifics, but the final composition of the Senate will be unknown until this month. Republicans and Democrats have been battling over spending priorities since COVID-19 struck last spring, with competing priorities.
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InterviewsHow we run our money: BT Pension Scheme
Frank Naylor, CIO of the UK’s BT Pension Scheme, talks to Carlo Svaluto Moreolo about building a resilient portfolio
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Opinion PiecesUncertain conditions call for a steady course
The impact of COVID-19 has made long-term strategies that embrace resilience a high priority for pension funds to ensure there is a smoother ride during turbulent times.
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Country ReportCEE – Croatia: Real diversification
A lack of local diversification opportunities is holding back Croatian pension funds
