More comment – Page 31
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Considerations around consolidation vehicles
Much of the debate around consolidation vehicles thus far has focused on the comparison between the security provided by consolidators and that provided by a traditional insurance company.
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Opinion PiecesDutch pensions: the next chapter
For those who have been following the cumbersome multi-year saga of Dutch pensions reform, the latest wrinkle might seem trivial.
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Opinion PiecesTurn crisis into opportunity
One of the most striking features of the discussion of what could be called the Corona crisis – the economic and financial crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic – is its pervasive intellectual laziness. Far too few commentators are trying to grapple with its unique features.
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Opinion PiecesGrowing debt levels spell trouble
Credit investors would be wise to reflect upon the growing debt burden weighing on the global economy.
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Opinion PiecesAGMs: Setting new ESG standards
As the AGM season comes to an end for another year, it is worth reflecting upon the high pressure that company boards are facing from investors to take greater account of environmental impact, diversity and executive pay – only a few issues from a long list of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria that most investors now seem to abide by.
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FeaturesInvestment Strategy: Towards sustainable portfolio theory
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1990 Nobel prize in Economics given to Harry Markowitz, William Sharpe and Merton Miller. IPE is marking this in several ways. The first event took place at the IPE annual conference in Copenhagen in December 2019, with a panel discussion following on from the showing of a delightful video. The video was based on a few days that TOBAM CEO Yves Choueifaty and I spent with Markowitz in his office in San Diego in June of that year and showed Markowitz’s charm and humility despite his great achievements.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from Australia: Paltry pickings in the political pie
As deficits mount in a post-COVID-19 world, politicians and bureaucrats are again eyeing national pension savings – hundreds of billions of dollars they can capture at the stroke of a legislative pen.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: Politics forcing divestment
American pension funds have become embroiled in the cold war between the US and China and diversification strategies may be affected by the new scrutiny of investments in Chinese companies.
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Opinion PiecesGuest Viewpoint: Rory Sullivan & Fiona Stewart
Better disclosure by asset owners is an important mechanism for driving sustainability in investment. But asset owners struggle with many aspects of sustainability reporting
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Private debt managers mitigate risks with focus on operations
With financial markets undergoing a severe correction amid the COVID-19 crisis, Broadridge considers the impact on private debt managers.
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: How Canada can liberate Holland once again
Ongoing concern: Putting ‘trust’ back into Dutch pensions
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: ESG After COVID-19: Will it Be Different This Time?
COVID-19 raises questions about impacts on ESG issues like worker health and safety, and systemic risks like income inequality. While the existential threat of climate change has dominated the agenda in recent years, the pandemic has renewed focus on social and governance issues.
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Opinion PiecesThe shape of capital to come
In the Netherlands, the Afsluitdijk is a 32km by 90m dyke and causeway running between the provinces of North Holland and Friesland
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Opinion PiecesEU integration takes a hit
The symbolism should not be missed. One of the first responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe was the closure of national borders.
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Opinion PiecesSeize the possibilities of crisis
IPE’s 2020 Top 500 Asset Managers ranking shines a light on overall global managed assets in 2019, which increased by almost 22% in euro terms over the course of last year to €80trn.
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Opinion PiecesRisky business
The rapid spread of COVID-19, the subsequent aggressive containment measures, and the collapse in oil and equity markets in recent months mean that global economic growth prospects have deteriorated.
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FeaturesCorporate Purpose: Shareholders or society?
The COVID-19 pandemic recovery phase is a chance to reshape global economies into new sustainable models
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: Investors and savers hold steady in the face of the pandemic
During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, many investors stayed the course and did not make drastic changes to their asset allocations or to their saving rates. That is according to the first quarter 2020 retirement analysis by Fidelity Investments of more than 30m 401(k), Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and 403(b) retirement accounts in the US. Data updated to 17 April confirm the trends.
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Opinion PiecesGuest Viewpoint: Hilde Blomme & Jona Basha
Resolving the ‘alphabet soup’ of corporate reporting framework
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: The economic objectives of the ‘Oil Fund’
The attention surrounding the appointment of Nicolai Tangen to head the Norwegian ‘Oil Fund’ could be reflections of deeper concerns and how the objectives of asset managers and asset owners differ.
