July 2024
10Jul

UK sets out plans for National Wealth Fund

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has launched a National Wealth Fund (NWF) to unlock private investments in “green and growth industries”. The Labour government has allocated £7.3 billion to the initiative, which will be allocated through the existing UK Infrastructure Bank so investments can start being made immediately. The Treasury said it had, alongside the department for energy security and net zero, convened a meeting with the Green Finance Institute-chaired and investor-backed NWF taskforce set up to advise the government on...

July 10, 2024
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09Jul

Group of Canadian pension fund giants urges CSSB to reconsider exemptions from sustainability reporting

Canadian pension funds question CSSB's proposed exemptions and call for global standards. Investors highlight the importance of consistent sustainability reporting. Pension funds warn that exemptions could undermine global alignment and investor confidence. A coalition of major Canadian pension funds has submitted a letter to the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB), urging it to reconsider proposed exemptions for sustainability reporting. This initiative underscores the critical need for global consistency and alignment in sustainability disclosures. The letter is signed by representatives of the following...

July 9, 2024
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05Jul

2023 Defined Contribution Pension and Savings Report

By Gemma Burrows The 2023 survey contains data on 122 of the FTSE 350 companies and 140 other leading UK employers, which makes this one of the largest UK DC Pension and Savings Surveys in the industry. As always, we would like to thank those who took part in this survey and helped us to conduct this research and bring these valuable insights. Get the report here ___ Since our last survey, we have seen turmoil in investment markets, inflation rise into double-digit...

July 5, 2024
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05Jul

Global Public Pensions 2023

By OMFIF  The Global Public Pensions 2023 report explores how public pension and sovereign funds are building optimal investment strategies to address the uncertain economic environment and factor sustainability into their portfolios. The report draws on surveys, discussions, and written contributions from 22 global public funds across the world with combined assets under management of $4.3tn. These include the likes of Singapore’s GIC, Canada’s CDPQ, Australia’s Future Fund and India’s National Infrastructure Investment Fund. It also analyses the annual reports...

July 5, 2024
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05Jul

Judge throws out anti-ESG lawsuit against New York City pension funds

A New York state judge has thrown out a lawsuit against three of the five pensions funds in the $264.3 billion NYC Retirement System, saying New York State Supreme Court Judge Andrea Masley ruled July 2 that she dismissed the complaint because “plaintiffs here have not, and will not, suffer any monetary losses based upon defendants’ investment decisions.” Plaintiffs contended the pension funds' investment decisions would impair their ability to provide long-term benefits for retirees, an allegation Masley wrote was “speculative.” The judge supported...

July 5, 2024
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02Jul

UK. DC pension schemes see rise in investments in assets with climate targets

The defined contribution (DC) pension scheme market has seen almost a quarter (23%) increase in schemes’ investment in assets with climate targets since 2021, according to research from Barnett Waddingham. The majority (86%) of DC pension schemes have set targets to reach net-zero by 2050, with 18% of these targeting 2040. Of the pension schemes that have set net-zero targets, 81% have committed to achieving interim targets, in many cases aiming to achieve a 50% emissions reduction by 2030. Barnett Waddingham said:...

July 2, 2024
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June 2024
28Jun

The list of money managers axing oil stocks just got longer

There’s a growing list of institutional investors in Europe who are stripping oil and gas stocks out of their portfolios, in a move they say reduces the risk of ending up with stranded assets and financial losses. The latest to do so is PFA, Denmark’s largest commercial pension fund with roughly USD 110bn of assets under management. The investor has just offloaded its USD 170m stake in Shell Plc based on an assessment that the company’s capital expenditure on renewables...

June 28, 2024
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21Jun

UK. Could ESG factors for pension schemes be a hot topic following the General Election?

The General Election and ESG With the General Election looming, all of the main parties have now published their manifestos, setting out their key pledges and policy aims for the next parliamentary session. The election debates have already produced some heated discussion around areas such as immigration, defence, the NHS and tax levies. In past elections, political parties have made bold promises in relation to meeting net zero targets and tackling climate change – and this year is no different. It...

June 21, 2024
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19Jun

How Retirement Investments Align With Long-Term Environmental Goals

What do retirement plan sponsors and sustainable investors have in common? A focus on the long term. We explore how different asset classes, particularly real assets, can be aligned with long-term climate-related objectives, such as reducing carbon footprints to net zero. By extension, we suggest ways for retirement plan sponsors—whether in the defined benefit or defined contribution space—to align their investments with increasingly common sustainable climate goals. Key takeaways Climate-related risks and opportunities are present in virtually all asset classes, but...

June 19, 2024
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13Jun

US. House Republicans accuse ESG-focused pension funds, other investors of antitrust violations

Partisan differences were clear at a House hearing June 12, when Republicans accused CalPERS, Arjuna Capital and other institutional investors that consider environmental, social and governance factors of violating antitrust laws. The hearing followed the release of an interim report on June 11, in which Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee said pension funds, asset managers, proxy-advisory firms and environmental groups are coordinating a “climate cartel” to force companies to‘“decarbonize” and “reach net zero.” “The climate cartel is engaged in anti-competitive collusion...

June 13, 2024
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