All IPE articles in July/August 2021 (Magazine) – Page 2

  • Total energy supply in the IEA’s new net-zero by 2050 scenario
    Features

    Briefing - Energy: IEA sets net-zero target

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

     The energy sector is the source of about three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions at present and yet until only recently, the influential International Energy Agency (IEA), an inter-governmental group, had not produced a fully-fledged aligned pathway with the goal of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

  • Justin Chapman
    Features

    Briefing: Bonds on the blockchain

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    Bitcoin’s wild ride has been hard to ignore this past year. However, it has mainly attracted its stalwart audience of retail investors, family offices and hedge funds. Institutional investors mostly sat on the sidelines, although interest has been piqued. Digital assets, most notably bonds and not cryptocurrencies, are likely to garner the inflows owing to the comfort of regulation and established market infrastructure. 

  • Costs of asset management for UK DB schemes
    Features

    Briefing: New benchmark to reduce cost of FX transactions

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    Among the areas of focus for a pension fund looking to cut costs are the fees charged by its asset managers, usually as an annual percentage of assets under management, plus costs for other services. As part of a cost-cutting exercise, however, foreign exchange (FX) is often neglected. But as funds increasingly invest outside their home country, FX transactions are acquiring more significance because of the need to hedge foreign currency fluctuations. And these deals can carry hidden costs.

  • CarfizziAW copy
    Interviews

    How we run our money: Fondo Pensione Nazionale BCC CRA

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    Sergio Carfizzi (pictured), CEO of Italy’s Fondo Pensione Nazionale BCC CRA, tells Carlo Svaluto Moreolo about the fund’s ambitious alternative-investment programme

  • Fornasari_Francesca_C1-Hires
    Features

    Briefing: Central bank digital currencies take shape

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), also sometimes called govcoins, have suddenly become a subject of public discussion. Until recently the topic was mainly the preserve of a coterie of technical experts working for central banks and niche technology firms. But now there seems to be immense excitement about their potential to transform finance. There are even some who suggest the new technology could allow the renminbi to overtake the dollar as the world’s leading cross-border currency.

  • Justin Arter
    Opinion Pieces

    Letter from Australia: When the ‘kill switch’ misfires

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    The Australian government is attempting to push through Parliament legislation that would selectively benchmark the performance of superannuation funds – but has given up its intention to override investment decisions made by super funds.

  • Features

    Pensions insider: A DIY approach could harm large transactions

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    In the second in a series of articles aimed at empowering trustees, our expert contributor describes how to diplomatically sidestep problems when your good in-house team isn’t right for a complex task

  • Florence Barjou
    Features

    Strategically speaking: Lyxor & Amundi

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    Lyxor has made a mark over the 20-plus years of its existence, pioneering managed accounts for hedge funds, including the first dedicated institutional managed account platform, that it created for PGGM in 2010. 

  • Andrea Nanni
    Country Report

    Private markets: Seeking post-COVID alternatives

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    Italian pension funds continue to invest in private markets ahead of a potentially promising post-Covid recovery phase 

  • Michael Mainelli
    Features

    Ahead of the curve - Green assets: An alternative to green bonds

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    Policy performance bonds, in which returns are linked to ESG outcomes, would be a positive alternative to green bonds

  • Take advantage of the digital reset
    Features

    Digital transformation: Take advantage of the digital reset

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    Covid has accelerated the digital transformation across all industries. How has it contributed to new trends and opportunities in private debt and how can investors benefit?

  • Joseph Mariathasan
    Features

    European venture capitalists finally adopting ESG

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    Many would argue that venture capital (VC), at its core, has a positive impact on the world as it is driven fundamentally by the desire to solve society’s problems. But there is a contradiction between that driving mission, and the reality of the slow adoption of ESG into the consciousness and the investment processes of VCs and their assets.

  • Features

    Accounting: The Friedman conundrum

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    The world, or rather capitalism, has come a long way since Milton Friedman’s 1970 New York Times opinion piece The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits. Corporations, he argued, have no responsibility beyond the duty they hold to shareholders. 

  • Benchmark Risk - July 2021
    Features

    Qontigo Riskwatch - July & August 2021

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    * Data as of 31 May 2021.

  • Trade flow Ratio - Developed Markets
    Features

    Virtu Global Tradewatch - July & August 2021

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    May 2021 data as of 16 June 2021

  • Net Sentiment Bonds - July 2021
    Features

    IPE Quest Expectations Indicator - July 2021

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    At the time of writing, over half of the US population was vaccinated against COVID-19 with the EU at 40%. UK figures give a positive picture but the threat of new strains remains. The G7 have announced plans to supply vaccines to developing countries.

  • Net sentiment equities
    Features

    IPE Quest Expectations Indicator - August 2021

    July/August 2021 (Magazine)

    The next wave of COVID-19 has come to pass earlier than expected, largely due to new variants. The UK is hard hit, being sensitive to variants Alpha, Beta and Delta. The EU is next in line, with the Netherlands, Spain and Denmark in the forefront and Delta playing a leading role, but other member states are right behind. There is no sign of the next wave in the US yet, but it is sensitive to the variants Gamma and possibly Alpha, which plays a role in Canada.