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Opinion PiecesAustralian regulators take a deep dive into growing private markets sector
The recent brisk battle to buy an Australian data centre platform, AirTrunk, pushed the price to more than A$24bn (€14.5bn) – double what was anticipated just a few months ago.
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Opinion PiecesEurope’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is an opportunity, not a threat
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is often mentioned as one of the examples of the European Commission’s excessive zeal when working to implement the Green Deal. It is singled out as an example of overregulation that negatively impacts the competitiveness of European corporations, creates barriers to accessing the EU market and is costly to implement.
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Opinion PiecesThe EU needs a few more AP7s
Europe sure does not have a savings problem – EU household savings amounted to €1.4trn in 2022 versus €840bn in the US. What Europe does have, though, is a glut of bank savings capital that serves as a double bind.
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Opinion PiecesInvestors must work together to improve AI stewardship
While perhaps the same cannot be said about climate change, there seems to be a consensus about artificial intelligence (AI) in the United Nations General Assembly.
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Opinion PiecesDisagreements over pension reform persist in the Netherlands
When King Willem-Alexander read out his speech at the opening of the Dutch parliament, the topic of pensions was missing.
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Opinion PiecesSocial Security – the one thing Harris and Trump agree on
On one thing US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump agree: their new administration will not cut the Social Security benefits that are paid as pensions by the US Treasury’s retirement programme.
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Opinion PiecesGerman politicians pronounce on pensions policy ahead of next year's election
With federal elections likely to be held on 28 September next year, German politicians have started to reveal ideas on pensions.
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Opinion PiecesDanish politics focuses on the good life
Pensions and the labour market were the focus of end-of-summer political pronouncements in Denmark this year. If brought into action, some of the ideas could lead to forward-thinking changes to pensions.
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Opinion PiecesAustralia's super funds emerge from regulatory shadows
Australia’s A$700bn-plus (€424bn) retail superannuation sector is starting to emerge from the shadow of its profit-to-member peers. It has been only five years since a royal commission published damning evidence of misconduct within the sector.
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Opinion PiecesInstitutional investors shouldn't be so concerned about equity market concentration
Before the August 2024 equity sell-off, the rising level of concentration in global equity markets had many investors worried for some time, and concentration may well continue to be a feature of equity markets in the near future.
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Opinion PiecesUS court scraps SEC private equity transparency rule
The US appeals court’s decision, last June, to throw out a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule intended to give investors more transparency into private funds has sparked a heated debate.
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Opinion PiecesWhy we need to talk about the birthrate
If you live in a big city like London, and if you look hard enough, you are sure to find signs of a falling birthrate.
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Opinion PiecesA mid-year stock take on ESG: talk is no longer cheap
It’s halftime for 2024, which offers a convenient reason to reflect on where we are with respect to ESG investing. I’d say the outlook is pretty good. That’s because, as global equity impact investor WHEB Asset Management says, the “ESG tourists – asset managers that stampeded into the sustainability market just a few years ago – are now packing their bags” as the depth and breadth of anti-greenwashing regulation bite.
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Opinion PiecesThe buyout pendulum starts to swing back to the DB norm
Vogue fashion magazine reports that flared trousers and mullets are back after a 50-year absence. They were not a good look even then, but fashion has its own drivers which do not necessarily involve good taste or even practicalities.
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Opinion PiecesAustralia's regulator cracks down on greenwashing
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has won its first greenwashing case in a civil action against Vanguard Investments.
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Opinion PiecesWhy the green transition throws up workforce and pension challenges
Pensions are a hot topic in corporate Germany, where skills shortages and an ageing workforce have led to a war for talent, as well as a renaissance in occupational retirement provision in the fight for workforce skills.
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Opinion PiecesSwitzerland’s refreshing bottom-up approach to regulation contrasts favourably with the EU
Switzerland’s bottom-up approach to sustainable investing and ESG reporting rules seems to be travelling in the opposite direction to the path chosen by the EU.
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Opinion PiecesItaly needs a serious debate about pensions
Italian policymakers are bent on indulging the relatively small but influential minority of Italians that is nearing retirement, but lament that the statutory retirement age of 67 is too high. The reform efforts of past years have been towards reducing the retirement age or increasing flexibility in retirement. The resources employed towards supporting second-pillar pensions have been next to none.
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Opinion PiecesThe US perspective on a mixed proxy season
Opinion is divided on whether opposition to environmental and social considerations are increasing following the 2024 annual general meeting season in the US.
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Opinion PiecesDespite their differences, pension funds should continue to act as bold corporate stewards
This year’s voting season leaves questions about the benefits of engaging with companies in the sectors that are slowest to embrace the climate transition.
