Latest analysis – Page 10
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AnalysisFixed income, rates, currencies: Thinking on one’s feet
The enormous scale of national lockdowns has made it hard to keep abreast of all the extraordinary monetary interventions and fiscal support packages worldwide.
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Opinion PiecesGuest Viewpoint: Jeremy Coller
The global shutdown is painful for almost every sector of the economy. But in some industries the real damage will begin after the pandemic ends
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Opinion PiecesThe case for a UK sovereign wealth fund
In November 2012 I suggested in an article in IPE that the UK should set up a sovereign wealth fund. The House of Commons had a parliamentary debate on setting one up in December 2016* and included the IPE article in the background papers. Unfortunately, Brexit overshadowed all else, but now that it is done, there may be a case for revisiting the arguments.
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Opinion PiecesLong Term Matters: Investing in an age of pandemics
Pandemics are master classes in managing existential uncertainty. Being overwhelmed is ‘normal’. Here are seven actions that we can take as citizens and investment professionals. The focus is on the US and the UK: their governments are floundering. The unravelling in the US is dangerous for investors. Both the UK and the US are very responsive to the financial sector.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: The Democratic agenda takes shape
“On day one, [Joe] Biden will use the full authority of the executive branch to make progress and significantly reduce emissions. Biden recognises we must go further, faster and more aggressively than ever before, by (among other things) requiring public companies to disclose climate risks and the greenhouse gas emissions in their operations and supply chains.” That is Joe Biden’s ‘Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice’ as it appears on joebiden.com, the official campaign website.
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FeaturesResearch: The new benchmarks
Sustainability is set to become the gold standard of investing
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AnalysisCoronavirus: Pension funds take comfort from relative health in turbulent times
European pension funds have underlined their position as long-term investors as they face unprecedented market turbulence and an economic downturn.
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Book ReviewBook review: Radical Uncertainty by John Kay and Mervyn King
Within the terms of their own analysis, the authors of Radical Uncertainty might be remembered for a prescience they could neither possess nor aspire to
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AnalysisPensions accounting: IASB faces disclosure tussle
The story of the latest work by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on pensions disclosures starts last July when the board agreed on two specific disclosure amendments that it wanted to make to International Accounting Standard 19 (IAS 19), Employee Benefits.
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InterviewsUK auto enrolment: The architecture of a reform
The UK’s auto-enrolment policy has been successful. But this success has been no accident, as a new research project shows
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Opinion PiecesGuest Viewpoint: Steve Waygood
History may well look back on 2019 as the year the world finally woke up to the threats posed by climate change. Yet, with the negotiation failures that occurred at the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Madrid (COP25), the year ended on a significant downer.
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Opinion PiecesInvesting in an age of pandemics
Pandemics are master classes in managing existential uncertainty. Being overwhelmed is ‘normal’. Here are seven actions that we can take as citizens and investment professionals. The focus is on the US and the UK: their governments are floundering. The unravelling in the US is dangerous for investors. Both the UK and the US are very responsive to the financial sector.
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AnalysisEquities – Innovation frenzy in race for survival
Companies must cope with today’s unprecedented pace of technological disruption and rapidly evolving consumer expectations to stay in business
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AnalysisEquities – European banks see light ahead
The European banking sector is moving into positive territory as the tough regulatory pressure of recent years levels off
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AnalysisEquities – The valuation conundrum
The huge gap in current equity valuations, depending on which metrics are used, presents a tricky challenge for investors
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AnalysisCheers and concerns over DWP climate amendments to pension bill
Climate change-related amendments to draft pension fund legislation tabled by the UK government have prompted words of welcome as well as concern from the pension industry.
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Opinion PiecesDavos Diary: Benefitting all stakeholders
January’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos captured the spirit of the early 21st century with the overall theme of “stakeholders for a cohesive and sustainable world
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FeaturesLong term matters: To investors who care about the climate crisis – act before COP26
Rather belatedly, we have a new president of COP26 in the form of Alok Sharma, former UK international development secretary. But this sorry saga seems quite symbolic – we know that we need to do something big but we can’t quite get our act together.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from the US: Lower rates, deeper holes
Something unprecendented happened in the US in the first weeks of January when the Milliman 100 PFI discount rate fell 35bps to a 20-year low of 2.85% “It was a very poor month for defined benefit (DB) plans, not a good start of the year and it dug an even deeper hole in their financial situation,” points out Zorast Wadia, principal, consulting actuary at Milliman. He is also author of the Milliman 100 pension funding index (PFI), an annual study of the 100 largest DB pension plans sponsored by US public companies.
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FeaturesIntegrated reporting: Accounting goes sustainable
Combining conventional financial reporting with non-financial reporting in a single integrated framework presents challenges
