All IPE articles in July/August 2024 (Magazine)
View all stories from this issue.
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Country ReportItaly Country Report 2024: How local pensions could support the economy
The Italian pension industry and policymakers are discussing ways to channel more pension investment towards the country’s business sector
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - July 2024
Both US presidential candidates are slowly losing popularity, while staying very close in the polls. Trump seems to have more trouble than Biden getting through to the undecided. Trump’s legal troubles may yet hinder his candidacy, in particular among independents.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - August 2024
Joe Biden’s weakness was a lucky stroke for Donald Trump, who has shown similar symptoms for years. It remains to be seen what effect Kamala Harris has on the polls. Trump and his chosen VP are both proponents of weakening the USD.
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Opinion PiecesItaly needs a serious debate about pensions
Italian policymakers are bent on indulging the relatively small but influential minority of Italians that is nearing retirement, but lament that the statutory retirement age of 67 is too high. The reform efforts of past years have been towards reducing the retirement age or increasing flexibility in retirement. The resources employed towards supporting second-pillar pensions have been next to none.
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FeaturesHow the EU's pay transparency directive affects pension sponsors
Pay transparency is looking set to be the employment hot topic of at least the next few years and reflects an ongoing global conversation around addressing equal pay. The latest figures in the EU put the gender pay gap at around 12.7% and the gender pension gap at in excess of 30%, with very little movement over the last few years. Greater transparency over pay is the route being adopted in a growing number of countries as the silver bullet to accelerate progress.
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InterviewsAustralia’s Challenger takes credit and affiliates global
Some 2.5 million Australians are set to retire over the next decade, according to the country’s Treasury. This ageing population has challenged Australia’s A$3.6trn (€2.3trn) superannuation fund sector, and the industry as a whole is pivoting more heavily towards the decumulation phase.
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Country ReportItalian pension funds fine-tune asset allocation
Growing appetite for private market investments, amid shifting equity and bond portfolios, are keeping Italian pension funds busy
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FeaturesAnalysts push back on rate cuts
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s June press conference was, like most careful central bank-speak, open to interpretation. It was possibly slightly dovish with a hint of hawk. However, in the aftermath of the press conference, and following a few busy days of US economic data releases, many analysts have pushed back their forecasts for the number of interest rate cuts this year.
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Asset Class ReportsDenmark’s Lærernes ups its appetite for private credit risk
Lærernes Pension (LP), the pension fund for teachers in Denmark, started investing in private credit in 2018, in small amounts. In 2021 it made a more sizeable strategic allocation to the asset class.
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Opinion PiecesSwitzerland’s refreshing bottom-up approach to regulation contrasts favourably with the EU
Switzerland’s bottom-up approach to sustainable investing and ESG reporting rules seems to be travelling in the opposite direction to the path chosen by the EU.
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InterviewsATP's long game in investment strategy
Christian Kjaer, head of liquid markets at Denmark’s ATP, talks to Carlo Svaluto Moreolo about the institution’s liquid assets portfolio and his knack for game theory.
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Opinion PiecesAustralia's regulator cracks down on greenwashing
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has won its first greenwashing case in a civil action against Vanguard Investments.
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Opinion PiecesThe buyout pendulum starts to swing back to the DB norm
Vogue fashion magazine reports that flared trousers and mullets are back after a 50-year absence. They were not a good look even then, but fashion has its own drivers which do not necessarily involve good taste or even practicalities.
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Asset Class ReportsPrivate credit: How banks are joining forces with managers
As the private credit market grows, banks are looking to partner with private credit managers rather than compete with them
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Opinion PiecesDevelopment banks need to be more transparent to mobilise private capital
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have caught the imagination of impact-oriented investors, as achieving them requires mobilisation of private capital on a massive scale. However, taking on the risks associated with many of the SDG-oriented investment goals is too much to bear for many private investors.
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Country ReportCDC pension fund benefits from a steady stream of young members
The Cassa Dottori Commercialisti (CDC) is one of the most sustainable casse di previdenza, the Italian privatised first-pillar funds for professionals, thanks to prudent asset allocation and the CDC’s policy to attract young Italians to the chartered accountancy profession.
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Country ReportPrevimoda fine tunes for better results
In 2023, Previmoda, the pension fund for the fashion and textile sector, rejigged the strategic asset allocation of its sub-funds Smeraldo Bilanciato, which has a higher exposure to fixed-income, and the equity-focused Rubino Azionario.
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FeaturesCyber catastrophe bonds make a debut as insurers offload risk
Cyber catastrophe bonds may be the new kid on the insurance-linked securities (ILS) block, but they have been talked about for years. The jury is out, though, as to whether they will follow the same trajectory as their natural cat bond peers. While some analysts believe they have the potential to go mainstream, others cite concerns over modelling and lack of diversification.
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Asset Class ReportsPublic-to-private borrowing is a two-way street
The private credit boom seems to be drawing to a halt as public funding becomes cheaper
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Country ReportENPAM looks to preserve cash flow
In February 2024, the board of ENPAM, the first-pillar pension fund for doctors and dentists, approved plans for the fund to transition to an asset liability management (ALM) model that will focus on liability-driven investment (LDI).
