More comment – Page 22
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Opinion PiecesSolving the blended finance puzzle
It is hard to say whether Friedrich Nietzsche, one of history’s most influential thinkers, would have been a supporter of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and all that they entail.
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Opinion PiecesNotes from the Netherlands: It’s the implementation, stupid
The Dutch pensions regulator, DNB, praised pension funds in a recent report for having better structures in place to manage their exposure to climate risk than banks and insurance firms. But as always, the devil is in the detail.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from Australia: Private gain as Australia’s infra assets change hands
Australian superannuation funds are playing a key role in the largest takeover yet of an Australian infrastructure asset, Sydney Airport, for A$23.6bn (€15bn) in cash.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: Liquidity tops the agenda for US pension plans
Monitoring and managing liquidity will be a major issue for many US pension funds in 2022. The risk of a liquidity crunch affects public systems above all, but corporate plans are not immune.
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Opinion PiecesGuest Viewpoint - Sebastien Betermier: Four takeaways for equitable CDC pension design
The combination of ultra-low interest rates and high longevity is putting a major strain on retirement systems across the globe. A recent report by the World Economic Forum predicts that the global gap between retirement savings and retirement needs will reach $400trn by 2050.
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Three high yield myths debunked
Default, convexity and liquidity – three misconceptions of high yield markets
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Do your best to heed SFDR RTS despite delay, complexity
The SFDR represents a steep learning curve for most firms, says MJ Hudson’s Emma Bickerstaffe
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Master trust consolidation set to drive value for money
Bigger is not always better, but as the trend of wider consolidation matures, bigger should represent a better deal for members
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: EU must not become climate laggard over taxonomy
Andreas Hoepner criticises a proposal to raise the taxonomy-admissibility threshold for natural gas to 270gms CO2 e/kWh
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Opinion PiecesNo right side to the inflation debate
The question of whether the current trend of rising inflation is a transitory or permanent one is not trivial. It is forcing the institutional investor community to reflect on their long-term investment strategies. Investors have to review their current approaches and get ready to make significant changes if their views prove incorrect.
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Opinion PiecesNews Notes: Economies of cost saving
The three main reasons the UK government requested that the country’s 89 Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) pool their assets back in 2015 were: establishing common investment vehicles to provide the pension funds with a mechanism to access economies of scale; helping them to invest more efficiently in listed and alternative assets; and reducing investment costs.
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Opinion PiecesGetting ahead of the skill curve
Twenty years ago, in December 2001, Denmark’s giant labour market pension fund ATP implemented an interest-rate swap. That doesn’t seem too shocking now as liability-driven investment (LDI) is a mature and well-understood concept that is embedded in pension risk-management and regulatory practice.
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Opinion PiecesGuest Viewpoint: Fiona Reynolds
Public and private sector leaders from around the world gathered in Glasgow for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) last month to tackle the climate crisis and kick off the next decade of climate policy.
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Opinion PiecesNotes from the Netherlands: Too eager to index
Most Dutch pensioners have been craving indexation ever since the financial crisis in 2008-09. Understandably, patience is running thin, especially now that inflation has reached its highest level since the introduction of the euro.
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Book ReviewBooks: How a small island helped shape modern China’s world view
The Gate to China: A New History of the People’s Republic & Hong Kong by Michael Sheridan, HarperCollins, 2021
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Opinion PiecesLetter from Australia: In need of a broader asset pool
With a market cap of just A$2.7trn (€1.75tn), Australia’s ASX stock market is increasingly overshadowed by a rapidly growing pool of super savings which now exceed A$3trn.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: Crypto currencies gain a toe-hold in America’s 401(k) retirement plans
Crypto investing is not going to become mainstream any time soon in 401(k) plans. But the US retirement market is becoming more and more sophisticated – investors are becoming interested in digital assets, and asset managers, platform providers and consultants are all developing digital products and services.
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: How has the pandemic affected the UK – small-cap value investing
By Beini Zhou and Anand Vasagiri, portfolio managers, international small-cap value strategy, Artisan Partners
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: What pension schemes should consider when upping renewables
Renewity’s CIO, David Hunter, outlines five considerations for pension schemes looking to up their renewables exposure
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: What if COP26 fails?
Peter Kraneveld, international pensions adviser at PRIME bv., on finance issues and COP26
