All IPE articles in May 2024 (Magazine)
View all stories from this issue.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - May 2024
EU parliamentary elections are approaching fast. Current polls predict a shift to the right, with the current centrist parties remaining dominant and the extremist right overtaking the Eurosceptics. US President Donald Trump is still liable to be convicted in a criminal case, but his poll figures are rising.
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Country ReportUK Country Report 2024: Is buyout still the gold standard for pension funds?
Improved funding positions mean more DB schemes are considering run-on rather than off-loading their liabilities
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InterviewsSweden’s AP3 pension fund and its quest for alpha
Jonas Thulin, recently appointed CIO of Sweden’s Tredje AP-Fonden (AP3), talks to Carlo Svaluto Moreolo about his approach to asset allocation and portfolio management
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Opinion PiecesEnrico Letta’s European 401(k) policy is ambitious but necessary
Enrico Letta’s long-awaited review of the EU single market (Much More than a Market), reached inboxes last month. Among a sweeping range of measures, Letta advocates an ambitious system, akin to the 401(k) in the US, with an EU-wide auto-enrolment long-term savings policy as part of a proposed Savings and Investment Union.
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Country ReportMercer’s upbeat vision for UK pension funds and their investment advisers
James Lewis, UK CIO at Mercer, is optimistic about the future of the UK’s DB and DC industries
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Country ReportHow consolidation might affect the UK’s local government pension sector
There is political consensus on the need for local government pension schemes to merge, but the question of in-house asset management is less straightforward
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FeaturesPrivate credit secondaries come of age
Since the secondaries market came into existence, private equity has been the dominant asset class, but the tide is turning. It is finally time for private equity’s more youthful counterpart, private credit, to receive more of our attention. The private credit secondaries market borrows various elements from its older sibling, including best practices and deal structures, and it is now demanding the spotlight as awareness of the asset class increases.
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Opinion PiecesBond markets look set to become the new stewardship powerbroking arena
Investors in bond markets are starting to assume a more powerful position than equity investors to influence companies and countries. Innovation is sweeping through bond markets with the introduction of specific ‘use of proceeds’ bonds and sustainability-linked bonds.
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InterviewsThematics Asset Management’s CIO on themes and investment challenges
Out of the 19 boutiques businesses belonging to the Natixis Investment Management franchise, Thematics Asset Management is by no means the smallest, but it is not exactly a juggernaut, managing €3.3bn of assets at the end of last year. Yet, it is actively contributing to what could be a crucial evolutionary step for global investors.
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Opinion PiecesAustralia faces up to the cost of pandemic pension early release
Four years after Australians were allowed to withdraw superannuation savings to deal with the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, they now know emergency measures will cost the nation A$85bn (€51bn) in future pension payments.
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Opinion PiecesStriking the right balance on pension funds and fiduciary duty
Pension fund investment principles, strategies and decision-making have all become more complex in the wake of the growth of sustainability factors in general and climate change in particular. This has made the interpretation and practice of trustee ‘fiduciary duties’ more vexed and challenging than ever. A recent review of fiduciary duties in the UK by the Financial Markets Law Committee (FMLC) put it this way: “It is sometimes easier to state the duties than it is to apply them.”
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Country ReportBridging the stewardship gap between companies and investors
Findings of research into how well corporates and investors communicate
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InterviewsMerseyside pension fund dials down domestic bias
Scheme’s strategic ambition is to move closer to the MSCI World index weightings
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Book ReviewThe importance of board decisions in an uncertain world
In the foreword to this new book, the CIO of CERN Pension Fund, Dr Elena Manola-Bonthond, says that, in her experience, investment alpha is scarce and very often difficult to access. It can be costly and its persistence is sometimes questionable. But there are other types of alpha that are more accessible and governance alpha is definitely one of them.
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Asset Class ReportsClosing the data gap in green, social and sustainability-linked bonds
Luxembourg’s bourse has capitalised on its experience as a green bond hub
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Asset Class ReportsGreen bonds reach escape velocity
The green bond market looks set to grow further, despite pressure from many sides and key questions over their function
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Country ReportSolvency UK: tweaks likely to bring only marginal gains
The UK’s reforms of the Solvency II framework are unlikely to be enough to usher in a big wave of investment in domestic productive assets by insurers
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Country ReportProgress report on the UK’s Mansion House capital market reforms
Details of potential changes to the UK’s pension landscape have been thin on the ground
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AnalysisYoung pension employees clamour for learning and interaction
Many young professionals are deterred from pursuing careers in pensions due to insufficient knowledge and a perceived lack of career progression
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FeaturesUS economy continues to surprise
The resilience of the US economy continues to confound observers. The Federal Reserve’s 11 hikes in interest rates over the course of 2022 and 2023 were implemented to rein in economic strength and to stifle inflation. Scroll forward to the second quarter of 2024 and both inflation and economic activity are still higher than expected.
