More comment – Page 28
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Opinion PiecesImprovement required
Climate change will continue to be one of the most economically impactful events as it affects us all. It requires immediate and ambitious action to prevent the worst effects on people and biodiversity and it signals a message that nations need to build a more resilient and sustainable global financial system.
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FeaturesUS endowments: Success breeds success
Perhaps no single group of institutional investors elicits as much fascination and admiration as US university endowments – in particular those of the Ivy League, and among that elite group the Yale and Harvard endowments in particular.
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Opinion PiecesGuest viewpoint: Sir Ronald Cohen
We are on the threshold of another major shift in institutional portfolios. Impact transparency is changing the rules for both investors and businesses.
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Opinion PiecesIs sustainability mispriced?
Living in the developed world over the past 50 years, life has been stable, even idyllic, for most people. That is certainly compared with their grandparents and previous generations who lived through two world wars and the Spanish flu. But, as COVID-19 has shown so cruelly, there are existential dangers that can lie hidden. These can rip the established world order asunder if not tackled beforehand.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from Australia: Reforms not super for default funds
A string of government reforms due to come into effect from July 2021 has caught the superannuation sector off-guard.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: COVID-19 places new demands on university endowments
COVID-19 has hit a special category of institutional investors in the US hard – college and university endowments. In fact, higher education institutions are facing a decline in revenues because of fewer students enrolling and paying tuition, as well as current students asking for more financial aid. Colleges and universities are withdrawing substantial amounts from their endowments to cover these extra expenses. How is this affecting endowments’ investment strategies?
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Opinion PiecesPerspective: Markowitz is still modern
Thirty years after he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Harry Markowitz’s groundbreaking work from the 1950s still powers financial innovation
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Opinion PiecesThere is such thing as a (fossil) free lunch
A major historical fear has been that very strict exclusion or integration policies can lead to significant changes in the risk-return profile of portfolios
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: The tipping point for UK pension schemes
Schemes need to consider how to get to a secure level of funding, but also, the assets they will need to hold when they reach peak cashflows in order to remain fully funded
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Why Europe needs a real pan-European occupational vehicle
The revision to the Directive, known as IORP II, did not really facilitate cross-border activities. On the contrary, it seems that some EU member states have taken the implementation of the Directive as an opportunity to further complicate cross-border activities.
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Mastering human rights risks – Why asset managers should act now
Sustainable investing has been a hot topic among investors for some time, with a particular focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, ESG stocks and assets have outperformed the market. While the ’S’ has often been overlooked, recent trends are fuelling attention on the cornerstone ...
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Opinion PiecesThe looming trust deficit
Once again, European pension systems – notably those of the Netherlands and Denmark – have scored most highly in this year’s Mercer CFA Pension Index. These successes are no accident, and among the key ingredients is years of pragmatic and consensual policy making.
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Opinion PiecesCOVID is not everything
For understandable reasons it has become commonplace to talk about the immense damage done by COVID-19. This probably makes sense as a kind of shorthand. However, careful reflection on the painful experience of recent months should show it is a one-sided way of understanding the pandemic’s devastating impact.
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Opinion PiecesTalking to strangers
In his recent book, Malcolm Gladwell discusses how people’s natural lack of ability to detect lies can lead to unpleasant consequences.
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Opinion PiecesCan superfunds be the silver bullet for DB woes?
Consolidation as a means of achieving better outcomes for pension schemes is a growing trend. This was highlighted in the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) 2018 White Paper on protecting defined benefit (DB) pension schemes.
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Opinion PiecesLeading viewpoint: How great companies deliver purpose and profit
Shareholder value creation is good for companies, investors and the wider world
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Opinion PiecesSmart phones: the key to African opportunity
Demographics are often the least appreciated of the long-term trends that investors consider, despite being perhaps the most important.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from Australia: Funding the future world
A handful of Australian superannuation funds are committing their members’ savings to the future world in terms of energy, water, technology and ideas. There will be successes and failures as ideas are developed and marketed.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: Gold investment returns to favour
“Negative real interest rates and unconventional monetary policies have been the catalyst of the new-found interest in gold,” says Jim McKee, a gold expert at Callan’s alternatives consulting group.
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Opinion PiecesGuest Viewpoint: Five reasons to invest in pensions technology
The world has changed exponentially in 2020, leading many multinationals to ask valid questions about how they can enhance their global operations.
