The IPE Conference & Awards 2025 in Seville brought together asset owners, managers and policy voices to debate the pressing issues shaping the European pensions and investment landscape.
On sustainable finance, Leanne Clements, head of responsible investment at People’s Partnership, urged the industry to temper optimism with realism.
“Before we can move forward stronger, the investment community needs a dose of humility about where we went wrong,” she said. “The boom in responsible investment created products faster than it created genuine investment beliefs, and that gap is what collapses under pressure.”
Clements added that if investors are retreating, “greenhushing”, or stepping back from climate commitments, the industry must ask “why our beliefs weren’t strong enough to withstand the backlash”.
Building in-house investment teams remains a long-term challenge, according to Chris Hitchen, chair of Nuclear Liabilities Fund and former Border to Coast chair, noting that benefits can take at least three years to materialise.
Highlighting past experiences with South Yorkshire and East Riding pension funds, he added: “They had their own investment teams […] but they didn’t have resilience. They were very dependent on the individuals they had, and they didn’t feel it was sustainable.”
Hitchen contrasted this with his 20-year experience at Railpen, where he helped develop in-house capabilities while outsourcing functions, stressing that persistence is key to maintaining purpose and value.
Asset allocation
Panel discussions on global asset allocation highlighted opportunities in private markets.
Laurent Clavel, global head of multi-asset at AXA Investment Management, said tactical allocations should continue to favour risky assets as markets have yet to reach complacency. Pension investors with established targets can diversify through private assets, he added.
Eimear Walsh, partner and European head of investment at Mercer, urged defined contribution (DC) pension funds to consider private market exposure to benefit younger savers, while Philippe d’Orgeval, deputy group chief investment officer at Amundi, noted Gen Z’s early and sustainability-orientated investing habits, including crypto exposure.
Clavel also flagged the tension between home bias and sustainable investing, saying it is “necessary” to support domestic economies but “wrong” in clean energy, where competitiveness is paramount.
European integration
The European integration agenda also featured prominently. Martin Schulz, former president of the European Parliament and chair of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, warned that the EU must deepen integration through the Capital Markets Union and Energy Union, highlighting the risk of a vacuum in international trade increasingly filled by China.
Private markets sessions revealed evolving allocation strategies. Carlo Farina, portfolio manager at CERN Pension Fund, shared its approach to timberland and infrastructure, while Lyes Arezki, portfolio manager at French pension fund UMR, outlined plans to deploy €10bn into direct private debt aligned with ESG priorities.
Finally, a strong European bias in investing was reaffirmed. Regis Pelissier, director of ERAFP, said 78% of the fund’s assets are invested in Europe to benefit both the economy and members.
NEST’s CIO Mark Fawcett added that its 20% UK allocation targets areas with direct member impact, including housing, infrastructure and company growth.
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