All Opinion Pieces articles
View all stories of the same content type.
-
Opinion PiecesViewpoint: What if climate policy wasn’t ‘backsliding’?
Nothing screams policy forward-sliding like a solar sector unleashed, permanently beating scenario expectations
-
Opinion PiecesA new era for pension fund liquidity management
With inflation past its peak and central banks signalling monetary easing, investors can look forward to a prolonged period when interest rates will be at normal levels – barring any surprise decline in economic growth or other kinds of shocks.
-
Opinion PiecesWhy General Electric’s pension management model has finally passed its prime
The late Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric for two decades until 2001, was not only a legendary businessman who grew GE’s market cap 30-fold over his tenure. He also inspired a minor revolution in pension fund management that dates back to the days of mainframe computers and telex machines.
-
Opinion PiecesCould Dutch pension reforms still be reversed?
1 January 2025: that’s the day the first Dutch pension funds will move to a defined contribution (DC) system according to the new Pension Act. So the clock is ticking for politicians who still hope to reverse the pension changes, or give members a say on the mandatory conversion of defined benefit (DB) accruals to DC capital, the most controversial part of the pension reform.
-
Opinion PiecesUS pension plans wrestle with China private market exposure
After a horrible 2023, Chinese stocks look cheap and attractive. But most US pension funds do not seem interested in investing in the Chinese stock market. On the contrary, they have reduced their holdings since 2020 and some are exiting entirely, according to Bloomberg analysis.
-
Opinion PiecesAn opportunity to reimagine private capital in Europe
Enrico Letta’s long-awaited report on the future of the European Union’s single market is set to spark a major debate among EU leaders. As Europe faces a rapidly evolving strategic landscape, the former Italian prime minister’s findings, due to be published this spring, could help shape thinking on European integration ahead of the upcoming elections in June.
-
Opinion PiecesAustralia connects retirement income sources
Australia, a country with the world’s fourth-largest pool of retirement savings, is caught in a curious bind. At issue is how to transition Australians from saving to spending.
-
Opinion PiecesATP at 60: no plans to retire the guaranteed pensions model
Now approaching retirement age itself, Danish statutory pension fund ATP is using its 60th birthday as an opportunity to reinforce the validity of its guarantee-based investment model.
-
Opinion PiecesViewpoint: The case for investing in water
Peter Kraneveld argues that there is a compelling financial as well as moral case for investing in water projects
-
Opinion PiecesABP pledges €30bn for new impact investments
Some €5bn will be invested in affordable housing projects in the Netherlands
-
Opinion PiecesViewpoint: The SEC should not diverge on Scope 3
Reporting of value chain emissions, whether upstream such as purchased goods, or downstream – such as product use (think combustion of fossil fuels), will be abandoned
-
Opinion PiecesUnder the spotlight: US pension plans and their use of leverage
Does US public pension funds’ use of borrowed money and derivatives pose systemic risks to global financial markets? That is the concern of global regulators, which have recently stepped up scrutiny of the practice, according to a recent article in the Financial Times (FT). But senior executives interviewed by IPE seem less worried.
-
Opinion PiecesTeamwork in rugby and Italian pensions
A peculiar parallel can be drawn between the Italian second-pillar pension industry and the country’s national rugby union team and its supporters, which every year since 2000 gets excited about the Six Nations Championship.
-
Opinion PiecesA thematic focus on sustainability
The evidence for global temperatures rises caused by human emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) has become overwhelming. That means there will have to be a huge adaptation by human societies across the globe to the reality of significant climate changes in the next few decades.
-
Opinion PiecesPension funds’ FIDA problem must be solved
In June 2023, the European Commission put forward the Financial Data Access (FIDA) regulation, which is currently being discussed in the relevant Council working group and in the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON).
-
Opinion PiecesHow effective is your shareholder voting strategy?
F Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote that “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function”.
-
Opinion PiecesCan pensions help with German skills crisis?
German companies consider the shortage of skilled workers as one of the biggest risks for the future of their business. According to market data portal Statista, 58% of firms see the lack of qualified workers putting operations at risk in the next few months, second only to the risks posed by energy and commodity prices (61%).
-
Opinion PiecesGreen champion to lead Australia’s Future Fund
Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, which was designed to cover unfunded Federal government pension liabilities, is poised to “renew and refresh”, following the appointment of Greg Combet as its new chair from mid-2024.
-
Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Putting impact at the core of sustainable investment market stats
The question of whether sustainable investments actually make a difference was one of the reasons why Eurosif revised its methodology for its market studies
-
Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Investor climate scenarios need to be probability-aware
Riccardo Rebonato, of EDHEC-Risk Climate Impact Institute, argues that climate scenarios need to come with probabilities if they are to be useful for investors
