All Opinion Pieces articles – Page 16
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Opinion PiecesCOP27: more questions than answers but reasons to hope
Despite the cynicism around COP27 last month, there were some potentially major developments for investors. Excitingly, a number of them address what’s often ignored in climate finance discussions: moving money.
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Opinion PiecesAustralia: Supers face A$500m tax hit
In the lead-up to the first budget by a Labor government in 12 years, speculation was rife about what the new Australian government might have in store for the superannuation sector.
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Opinion PiecesGuest viewpoint: The UK pensions sector should be more aggressive on consolidation
UK pension assets across both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) funds are too fragmented, and our schemes, even the biggest, are sub-scale. Consolidation is not the answer to everything, but it is a big part of the solution.
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Opinion PiecesTime to rethink defined contribution pensions design
This year is shaping up to be the worst for investment returns since before the great financial crisis, according to IPE’s latest performance analysis of the leading European pension funds.
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Opinion PiecesDutch pensions reform: A never ending story
In the last two years, nearly all my contributions for this section have been about the ongoing reform of the Dutch pension system, which will involve the transfer of defined-benefit (DB) accruals to a defined-contribution (DC) setting.
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Opinion PiecesMeloni grapples with Italy’s pension woes
Reforms usually follow general elections, regardless of the political system. Italy is no different. The most generous country in Europe in terms of pension payments, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Italy spends the equivalent of 15.6% of GDP on pensions.
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Asset allocation – factoring inflation
As inflation keeps beating records, real incomes remain under pressure and the standard approaches to diversification are challenged
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: COP27 needs to have the water crisis at its heart
Measuring and disclosing risks, opportunities and impacts of economic activities is critical to support the transition to a sustainable economy
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Dutch pension funds should consider the costs of convexity
Pension funds should consider adjusting their hedging policy as convexity doesn’t seem to payoff anymore
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: ESMA’s latest shot at ‘pre-hedging’ must now bring a clear set of rules
With a direct and significant impact on the prices that pension and other funds receive for the securities they buy and sell, pre-hedging is a key market cleanliness issue with broad implications for the investment industry, but also the end-investor and the public at large. It should not be overlooked this time around for it could become a LIBOR moment for market confidence.
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Opinion PiecesUS: Pension plans face up to a tough 2022
After the terrible returns of the fiscal year that ended in June, what will US public pension funds do? Will they increase their risky investments to try to reach their target returns? Or will they lower their target returns?
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Opinion PiecesAustralia: Super funds shift focus to private credit
An ambition of the architects of Australia’s universal superannuation system, when it was set up in 1992, was to create what would become a fifth pillar of the nation’s banking system.
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Opinion PiecesThe biggest test for private credit is upon us
Non-listed asset classes are sometimes touted as the weatherproof investment that can deliver positive returns no matter what, in both strong and weak economic environments.
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Opinion PiecesGuest viewpoint: Diversification and dislocation in a place called dystopia
What happened to my free lunch? They told me that diversification was there for the taking, yet there has been no zig to my zag. They promised me downside protection, but all I see is red. They said liquidity was a benefit, but never mentioned the bid/ask spread. Welcome to dystopia in the era of dislocation.
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Opinion PiecesLessons on LDI: learn from the Dutch cultural revolution
Around 20 years ago, UK occupational pension liabilities underwent a structural change. With assets weighted towards UK equities, still cashflow positive and open to new members and future accrual, liabilities were not too greatly discussed.
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Opinion PiecesAn uncertain outlook for UK pension journey plans
Following the Bank of England’s (BoE) emergency intervention announced on 28 September to stem the sell-off of long-dated UK government bonds, UK defined benefit (DB) pension funds were kept busy, as falling Gilt prices over the past weeks caused mark-to-market losses in liability-driven investment (LDI) strategies.
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Opinion PiecesNext up for Switzerland: second pillar reform?
The narrow majority of Swiss citizens voting to reform the country’s statutory (AHV) pension system in a referendum on 23 September (52.2%) could create momentum to bring about changes to the second pillar.
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Consolidation in UK pensions market – what are the options?
Will there be an increase in pension scheme consolidation in the UK market and will it lead to increased investment in alternative ESG assets? Consolidation could provide the collateral to invest in greater ESG assets.
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Ageing demographics challenge Germany’s PAYG state pension system
Germany has a well-established occupational pension system, but participation among employees is only about 50% overall, and in the significant SME segment only 30%
