Reports
In-depth report on investing for our pension fund and asset management readers from our award-winning journalists.
Latest reports
Making sense of stock market concentration
The level of concentration within global equity markets is at record levels. This has significant implications for portfolio construction
Prospects 2024: CIOs on what awaits investors
Asset management CIOs and strategists answer key questions about investment for the 12 months and beyond
Nordic pensions report 2023 - Arctic enterprise: Norway’s sovereign fund pivots north
Plans are afoot to set up a new base in northern Norway to manage sovereign wealth assets
ESG Guide 2023: The future of sustainable finance
With or without the backlash against ESG in the US, big questions have been looming over the sustainable finance industry – like ‘is sustainable finance working?’.
IPE Top 500 Asset Managers 2023: Asset management at a pivotal point
Data highlights from IPE Top 500 Asset Managers 2023 2022 global asset management AUM is €102.6trn 5.5% reduction on the 2022 total of €108.6trn Global institutional AUM: €35.1trn European institutional assets: €11.5trn Click for the Global Top 500 and European Top 120 institutional asset manager rankings
Top 1000 Pension Funds 2023: Europe’s pensions absorb a €646bn loss
Last year saw a net reduction in the asset stock of European pension investment retirement pools of 6.77% over the previous year, according to IPE’s annual study of the leading 1,000 pension funds across the continent, marking a sea change for pensions.
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Refinancings: private equity out in the cold
Activity has been disappointing due to macroeconomic headwinds and geopolitical tensions
Spanish pensions report 2023: funds ride a wave of uncertainty
Diversification remains a key tool in pension fund portfolios
Switzerland pensions report 2023: funds consider next move with UBS and Credit Suisse
Fears of market concentration in asset management and custody services are leading Swiss Pensionskassen to rethink relations with the enlarged UBS
ETFs Guide 2023: Innovation challenges concentration as investors spread their ETF wings
ETFs’ steep upward trajectory continues, driven, as industry participants note, by their low cost, simplicity, and flexibility as an allocation tool. Globally the value of assets invested in ETFs, some $10.7trn (€10trn) at the end of August 2023, is 17.5% higher than at the same point in 2022, according to consultancy ETFGI. In Europe the increase was greater, at 20.8%, but from a much smaller base, with total investment in ETFs now standing at $1.7trn, with the lower take-up still being attributed to less favourable tax treatment.
Emerging market corporates struggle to sway bond investors
There are mixed views about the prospects for emerging corporate debt, despite the sound fundamentals
AI special report: Could investment management be transformed?
While many foresee a variety of roles for artificial intelligence, critics believe it has a limited role in crucial asset management activities
Netherlands pensions report 2023: Dutch funds plot move back into active investing
Several large Dutch pension funds are planning to move back into active management while others choose to go passive and further tweak their indices. But these two trends are not as contradictory as they may seem
Pensions in France - IPE Country Report
Fierce opposition from trade unions and a large part of the political spectrum did not manage to stop Emmanuel Macron’s plan to reform the French pension system. The new framework kicks in this month, and the long-term sustainability of public pensions is secure. However, French workers will have to work longer into their lives, and their standard of living will decline.
Asia Investment - Special Report
In this month’s special report on Asia, IPE’s private markets editor Lauren Mills analyses why global institutional investors are setting their sights on Asia. The combination of strong fundamentals and a lack of correlation with the European and North American economies make the region’s private assets particularly attractive. Investors are particularly hungry for infrastructure assets as well as the region’s fast-growing digital infrastructure.
Portfolio strategy – Fixed income & credit
Factors including rising inflation and interest rates, the war in Ukraine, and the uncertainty surrounding the global economy might have significantly slowed down the growth of an alternative asset class like private debt. But this has not been the case, and while fundraising by private debt managers for 2022 and 2023 might be challenging, investors are making new long-term commitments.
Country report – Pensions in Italy (July/August 2023)
Italian second-pillar occupational pension funds continue on their path to diversification. Owing to the higher yields on offer in traditional fixed income markets, allocations to private markets may slow down temporarily, but funds have made long-term strategic commitments. A variety of industry initiatives is facilitating investment in private equity, private debt and infrastructure. Meanwhile, some pension funds are consolidating their private markets portfolios.
Country report – Pensions in Nordic Region (June 2023)
Reputational issues are front of mind for the board of Alecta, Sweden’s largest pension fund, as it continues to digest the fallout from its ill-starred investments in Silicon Valley Bank and two other US financial institutions that collapsed in March this year.
Portfolio strategy – Equities
Our report shines a light on investors’ thought processes when it comes to choosing active, passive or a combination of the two. We surveyed CIOs and senior portfolio managers to get an insight into how they construct their equity portfolios. Our report also features an investigation into the fall in listings on the UK equity market, at a time when listing domicile is increasingly consequential aspect of portfolio construction.
Special Report – Outlook: Europe and the world
Inflation may be losing momentum, thanks to vigorous central bank action, but with a recession on the horizon, it is hard to tell whether the next few months and years will see markets turn around and risk assets begin to perform again. For the time being, CIOs argue for selectivity in stock selection and generally agree that bonds have resumed their diversification role. The main article in our Outlook report features the views of influential CIOs and strategists on asset allocation for the next few years.
Portfolio strategy – Fixed income
Last year ushered in a new era for global fixed income and credit markets. It was the worst, in terms of returns, for bond investors in years, but it signalled a regime change. Investors need to be prepared for structurally higher inflation and rates, as well as higher volatility. But for fixed income managers, this is an environment where value is easier to find. Our report looks at this new beginning for fixed income investors, and at how selectivity has become key in the high yield and loan markets.
Country Report – Pensions in UK (May 2023)
UK pensions are at a crucial juncture. The UK Parliament’s inquiry into the LDI crisis of September 2022 shed some light on its causes, but the debate on the role of LDI is alive and well. Meanwhile, regulators including The Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority have advised pension schemes on how to make LDI strategies more resilient to shocks.
Briefing – Regulation
In Frankfurt, EIOPA has responded to the European Commission’s call for technical advice in its stocktake on IORP II, the European framework for occupational pensions. EIOPA proposes widening the scope of IORP II in a pivot away from cross-border pensions and towards sustainability. A consultation process is open until 25 May.
Portfolio Strategy – Emerging market equities
The Adani corporate scandal in India brought the issue of corporate governance in emerging markets back to the fore. As Lynn Strongin Dodds finds, however, emerging market corporates are slowly adapting to the requirements of institutional investors in terms of governance.
Country Report – Pensions in the Netherlands (April 2023)
The Netherlands is in the final legislative stages of what will probably be the largest and most complex workplace pension system change ever in the world. Yet as it edges towards the parliamentary finishing line, recent political events could yet knock the process off course.
Manager selection: UK fiduciary management
Does fiduciary management still stack up as scheme funding improves?
Portfolio strategy – Private debt
The rise in interest rates and inflation throughout 2022 brought traditional fixed-income assets back into focus for investors. The threat of a recession, the pressure on investors to maintain liquidity in portfolios and the ‘denominator effect’, which sees investors over-allocated to unlisted assets after a torrid 2022 for listed equities and bonds, are all facts that would suggest that private debt markets will suffer. However, investors are still backing experienced private debt managers and allocations to the asset class are forecast to grow further in the medium term.
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