Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 33
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Asset Class Reports
Portfolio strategy – Fixed income & credit
Factors including rising inflation and interest rates, the war in Ukraine, and the uncertainty surrounding the global economy might have significantly slowed down the growth of an alternative asset class like private debt. But this has not been the case, and while fundraising by private debt managers for 2022 and 2023 might be challenging, investors are making new long-term commitments.
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Opinion Pieces
Capital competition: where does it leave sustainability goals?
For pension funds and other similar large institutional pools of capital, there is significant pressure from politicians to invest in politically favoured domestic sectors – like renewables or high-growth sectors like venture capital.
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Country Report
Country report – Pensions in Italy (July/August 2023)
Italian second-pillar occupational pension funds continue on their path to diversification. Owing to the higher yields on offer in traditional fixed income markets, allocations to private markets may slow down temporarily, but funds have made long-term strategic commitments. A variety of industry initiatives is facilitating investment in private equity, private debt and infrastructure. Meanwhile, some pension funds are consolidating their private markets portfolios.
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Opinion Pieces
Lessons learned from Berlusconi’s pension reforms
To some, the death of Silvio Berlusconi on 12 June this year, is the end of an era for Italian politics. Berlusconi was the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the republic and a highly controversial figure, at home and abroad. He can be described as the first modern European populist leader.
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Asset Class Reports
Fixed income & credit – No turning back for alternative credit
Investor demand for alternative lending strategies remains strong as the opportunity set grows
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Country Report
Italy: Private markets allocations at a crossroads
Italian pensions funds are showing renewed interest in fixed income, as investment in private markets slows down – but long-term commitments are still in place
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Asset Class Reports
Fixed income & credit – Sustainability-linked bonds
Sovereigns and other issuers are yet to embrace sustainability-linked bonds but issuance is growing
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Country Report
Italy: Byblos consolidates private markets portfolio
The industry-wide fund has opted for a single external multi-asset mandate for private equity, private debt and infrastructure
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Opinion Pieces
Notes from the Nordics: NBIM still learning on equal pay after winning employment case
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has hailed the benefits of litigation abroad to drive its corporate governance agenda. Closer to home, victory in an Oslo employment case may have rung decidedly hollow for Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM).
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Opinion Pieces
Harnessing the power of corporate governance
Pension funds and other institutional asset owners have significant influence when it comes to voting in companies’ annual general meetings (AGMs). The consequences of their voting decisions can have a profound impact on company share prices and long-term objectives, especially in the context of climate change.
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Asset Class Reports
Fixed income & credit – Resilience bonds
Resilience bonds aim to encourage climate investment characterised by a more forward-thinking, preventative outlook
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Country Report
Italy: Casse di Previdenza roll with the punches
Italian industry-wide pension funds fail to attract new members, with potentially serious long-term consequences
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Country Report
Italy: Pension investors raise their sustainability game
Pension funds and other institutions are making greater use of engagement and voting as they pursue their ESG goals
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Country Report
Italy: Pension funds face SFDR test
A significant number of pension funds have classified their portfolios under the EU’s flagship sustainability disclosure regulation
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Country Report
Italy: Government plans to draw in capital for domestic investment
The right-wing government is moving forward with plans to create a €1bn fund, amid criticism and lukewarm investor support
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Features
Accounting: Corporate reporting at a crossroads
When the definitive history of modern corporate reporting is written, historians will no doubt step back in awe. They will marvel at the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) decision to issue its management commentary proposals only to inherit the integrated reporting framework and then waste substantial energy grappling with the complexities of aligning or even merging the two.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Australia: Retail funds lured by private markets
Australia’s retail funds are trying to navigate the unfamiliar terrain of private markets as they seek to lift their performance.
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Features
Discerning investor sentiment: this year’s proxy season
Every annual general meeting (AGM) season has traditionally brought with it a few symbolic moments – events that serve as broader indicators of the market’s mood when it comes to environmental and social issues.
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Features
FX in waiting mode after lively 2022
After a long period of muted volatility, currency markets sprang back into action in 2022 as geopolitical risk and diverging monetary policy came to the fore. This year it is quieter, but markets remain rattled over the unpredictable interest rate scenarios. As a result, many market participants are waiting for a sharper picture to emerge.
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Opinion Pieces
Guest viewpoint: Green bonds require better coordination for real impact
Worth approximately $128.3trn (€117trn), the global bond market could add billions to the global effort to reach the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs). Yet only a fraction of the market currently consists of green, social and sustainability (GSS) bonds, and of that very little is being issued in developing countries. In 2022, annual GSS bond issuances stood at under 10% of overall bonds and only 13% of them came from entities in developing countries, a number that dwindles to around 5% when excluding issuers from China.