Latest analysis – Page 41
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from the US: In search of balance
A woman leads one of the US pension funds most committed to long-terminism. She is Theresa J Whitmarsh, executive director of the Washington State Investment Board (WSIB), managing over $100bn (€89bn) of state pension, insurance, and other assets. She is also an advocate for a better gender balance in the financial industry, especially in the private equity sector.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Brussels: A simmering conflict
Conflict continues to simmer over the issue of passport rights for non-EU-domiciled hedge funds across the EU
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from the US: Bad deal from IRAs
Americans are saving more in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), but this vehicle has the highest fees and the lowest returns, according to a new study by the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College. This means trouble for retirees.
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Features
From Our Perspective: Pensions-by-wire
It is well known that commercial pilots don’t actually need to fly their planes thanks to fly-by-wire software. Even so, the presence of skilled pilots throughout any flight is essential. No-one would step onto a plane otherwise.
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Analysis
Analysis: Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global
One of the great certainties among asset owners has been the stable, almost static asset allocation of Norway’s NOK7.1trn (€733bn) sovereign wealth fund. Changes in investment strategy could bring that perceived certainty to an end
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Features
Dutch Pension Reform: Transparent system looks imminent
When the Dutch Pensions Federation recently called for the introduction of collective defined contribution (DC) arrangements, combined with individual pension assets and risk-sharing, it was not the first to do so. However, it is noteworthy that the industry association has highlighted how the current system of predominantly defined benefit (DB) plans has become too complicated.
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Features
TTYPE: Tracking cross-border pension rights
Establishing a cross-border pension-tracking system (ETS) was never going to be easy, but the TTYPE project – short for Track and Trace Your Pension in Europe – has been considering options since 2013, recently developing a business plan for the venture.
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Features
From Our Perspective: COP21 - what next?
The momentum and excitement in Paris last month at the COP21 UN Conference on Climate Change marks a turning point in the perception of climate change as an economic risk, reinforcing a growing mainstream consensus that institutional investors need to do two things.
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Features
European Insurance & Occupational Pensions Authority Conference: Framing the DC debate
Gathering in Frankfurt for the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority’s (EIOPA) annual conference, delegates could be forgiven for assuming the address by chairman Gabriel Bernardino would reflect on his previous successes, and avoid any controversial new proposals.
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Analysis
Analysis: Stendevad delivers portfolio redesign
With the raft of changes ATP has been making to its investment strategy now almost complete, it is clear the Danish pension fund has been at pains to take in the big picture – as well as the minutiae of the changed financial world it finds itself in.
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Features
Interview: Bernhard Wiesner - A life in pensions
Bernhard Wiesner, who has retired as head of pensions at Bosch, tells Barbara Ottawa about how he remains positive on the social partner model
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Brussels: A lawyer’s feast
It is a case of tackling one challenge after another in the Capital Markets Union (CMU). According to the European Commission, the present morass of different national insolvency rules creates a barrier to the flow of capital across the EU.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from the US: PE in the firing line
US public pension funds may play a role they would prefer to avoid in the 2016 presidential campaign as protagonists in the politically controversial private equity (PE) industry. Indeed, one of the reasons the Republican Mitt Romney lost the race to the White House was his connections to the sector.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Brussels: Cross-border challenge for IORP II
IORP II may have cleared the European Parliament’s committee stage but amendments tabled to the second directive covering occupational pensions since 2003 are so radical that it would be unwise to forecast its future.
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Features
Reject the behavioural myth
One of my hopes for 2016 is that awkward questions start to be asked about behavioural finance. Hardly an industry event went by this year without at least a passing positive reference to the approach
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from the US: Central States snag
A pensions bust-up is looming on the fringes of the 2016 Presidential campaign, involving the 115,500 retirees of the Central States Pension Fund (CSPF) who face a 28% average cut of their monthly pension. But the stakes are much larger. Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the Democratic presidential contenders, is championing the rights of those retirees. His attempt to stop the cuts with a new law could affect the whole pension industry.
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FeaturesFrom our perspective: Off to the right start?
What could the UK learn from other countries as it seeks to consolidate the LGPS? There are clear arguments in favour of consolidation, and one recent proposal involves asset pools
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Features
Q3 Returns: China volatility hits Europe’s funds
Volatile equity markets caused third-quarter losses for most of Europe’s pension funds, as fears over China’s economy spread.
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Features
NAPF Conference: Out with the old, in with the new
The recent National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) annual conference in Manchester signalled significant change for the industry
