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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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Opinion Pieces
Resilience: how investors can secure it
Back in March 2020 as the extent of the coronavirus in western Europe was becoming clear, Risto Murto, president and CEO of the €49bn Finnish pension insurer Varma, called for the creation of “healthcare buffers” to mitigate the effects of future pandemics.
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Opinion Pieces
Deleveraging is no free lunch
After temporarily shutting down the global economy, governments are pursuing a massive fiscal expansion in order to support struggling businesses and consumers.
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Opinion Pieces
Jobs crisis threatens pension provision
Hopefully one of the few benefits of the COVID-19 crisis will be to show that the impact of an ageing population is exaggerated. There are other key elements informing the ability of a society to provide decent pensions by whatever means.
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Opinion Pieces
There 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 Pieces
Viewpoint: 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 Pieces
Viewpoint: 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 Pieces
Viewpoint: 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 Pieces
Talking 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 Pieces
The 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 Pieces
COVID 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 Pieces
Can 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 Pieces
Viewpoint: Templates are only a staging post on the cost transparency journey
Cost templates are an important step, but there is much more distance for investors to travel
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Stirring the pot - government review should open VC for pension funds
DC pension review: why there should be an opening for venture capital investment
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: The People’s Pension - Global lessons on member outcomes
Big is really very beautiful when it comes to pensions
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Opinion Pieces
No need to panic
The global economic discussion has focused on assessing what damage COVID-19-related lockdowns have caused, and more recently on questioning the speed and strength of the recovery.
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Opinion Pieces
Nasty problems can be overcome
The Nobel laureate Bill Sharpe once called defined contribution (DC) decumulation the “nastiest, hardest problem in finance”.
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Opinion Pieces
Mind the reality gap
The past few months have brought huge discrepancies between the financial markets and the economy.
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Opinion Pieces
Pension funds should reflect on their true purpose
With COVID-19 infection rates rising across Europe it seems clear that lockdowns are not over yet. Europe will suffer economically as well as socially and politically.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Adding to financial thinking
Peter Kraneveld applies statistical theory to COVID-19 and concludes that investors should start thinking about events that have no mean regression
