All IPE articles in March 2024 (Magazine)
View all stories from this issue.
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Opinion Pieces
Under the spotlight: US pension plans and their use of leverage
Does US public pension funds’ use of borrowed money and derivatives pose systemic risks to global financial markets? That is the concern of global regulators, which have recently stepped up scrutiny of the practice, according to a recent article in the Financial Times (FT). But senior executives interviewed by IPE seem less worried.
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Opinion Pieces
Teamwork in rugby and Italian pensions
A peculiar parallel can be drawn between the Italian second-pillar pension industry and the country’s national rugby union team and its supporters, which every year since 2000 gets excited about the Six Nations Championship.
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Special Report
New regulations tackle water insecurity
The new European Sustainability Reporting Standards’ E3 tackles the complex and diverse realm of water insecurity
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Opinion Pieces
A thematic focus on sustainability
The evidence for global temperatures rises caused by human emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) has become overwhelming. That means there will have to be a huge adaptation by human societies across the globe to the reality of significant climate changes in the next few decades.
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Opinion Pieces
Pension funds’ FIDA problem must be solved
In June 2023, the European Commission put forward the Financial Data Access (FIDA) regulation, which is currently being discussed in the relevant Council working group and in the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON).
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Interviews
ERAFP: France’s public sector pension scheme and its key priorities
Susanna Rust talks to Catherine Vialonga, CIO of ERAFP, France’s mandatory additional pension scheme for civil servants, and CEO Régis Pelissier about the fund’s priorities and tactical asset allocation adjustments
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Country Report
German employers use pensions to tackle skills shortage
German companies are reworking HR policies in a changing labour market as they hunt for skilled workers and seek to retain experienced employees
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Opinion Pieces
How effective is your shareholder voting strategy?
F Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote that “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function”.
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Analysis
Democracy: a missing ingredient in ESG?
Nearly half the world’s population is facing elections to change governments in 2024, yet democracy appears to be in decline across the globe. How should investors respond?
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Asset Class Reports
Private debt: Private lending shows signs of recovery
Private credit is showing signs of recovery, but investors are focusing on defensive sectors
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Opinion Pieces
Can pensions help with German skills crisis?
German companies consider the shortage of skilled workers as one of the biggest risks for the future of their business. According to market data portal Statista, 58% of firms see the lack of qualified workers putting operations at risk in the next few months, second only to the risks posed by energy and commodity prices (61%).
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Features
Securitised credit keeps on shining
For a market with a difficult past, some could even say an image-problem, securitised credit has been performing remarkably well in recent years.
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Asset Class Reports
Legal systems key in emerging market private credit
In the legally complex world of emerging markets, private credit investors naturally favour those with cleaner legal systems
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Special Report
Investors engage with corporates on nature issues
Shareholders are ramping up their stewardship efforts on key topics like deforestation and biodiversity
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Country Report
German pension reforms remain controversial
The governing coalition is running out of time to overhaul the three-pillar retirement system
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Features
Contrasting global economic growth fortunes
Economic growth patterns across the world paint a picture of contrasts, ranging from surprisingly robust in the US to soft and struggling in China, with the stagnant euro area narrowly avoiding a technical recession after posting zero GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2023, following a 0.1% decline the previous quarter.
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Country Report
Commentary: Pension funding options for German employers
Pension schemes have a choice of ways in which they can exercise their funding obligations
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Interviews
Muzinich’s Tatjana Greil Castro on credit fundamentals
In one of the meeting rooms of the London office of Muzinich & Co are displayed a series of bond certificates from the past.
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Special Report
Natural capital special report: Getting to grips with the TNFD
More than 100 financial institutions have formally committed to adopting the recommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. Here’s how some of them are getting on so far
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Country Report
Germany’s pension buyout market shows signs of life
Companies are increasingly looking to offload their pension liabilities