November 2019

29Nov

ECB chief Economist says ageing populations are depressing interest rates

European Central Bank chief economist Philip Lane told business leaders in Dublin that ageing populations were contributing to downward pressure on underlying real interest rates, which have been around zero or in negative territory in the euro zone in recent years. Read also Countries should strengthen pension systems to adapt to changing world of work “In terms of magnitude, a wide range of estimates suggest that the downward impact on equilibrium real rates from slowing population growth and...

November 29, 2019
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
27Nov

UK Pension Provider STM Slumps 30% After Profit Warning

Financial services provider STM Group said on Wednesday it expects its 2019 underlying earnings to fall by a third on weak performance in its pensions business, sending its shares plunging 30%. The company, listed on London's junior stock market, forecast an annual underlying pretax profit of 2.5 million pounds ($3.21 million), compared with 3.7 million pounds reported last year. The slowdown in business applications within its pensions segment was partly due to some uncertainties and concerns in the general...

November 27, 2019
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
26Nov

10 Top Stock Picks of America’s Largest Pension Funds

One of the simplest things that everyday investors can do to improve their performance over the long haul is to study the best practices and investments of the world's top investors. And while that typically invokes names such as Warren Buffett and Carl Icahn, don't forget the money managers overseeing billions of dollars at mammoth pension funds. Understanding the secrets of large-scale investors can put you miles ahead of those people who simply wing it without first coming up with...

November 26, 2019
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
25Nov

Negative Rates Can Do a Lot More Damage Yet: Nordic Warning

After half a decade of negative interest rates, one of the biggest Nordic pension funds is wondering whether this is just the beginning. The head of investments at Finland’s Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co. says his industry is “just starting to see what kind of new challenges [negative rates] will cause.” That means “we are just taking the first steps” in portfolio adjustments, Mikko Mursula said in an interview in Helsinki. He says reality hit after the summer, when...

November 25, 2019
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
21Nov

World’s Largest Pension Fund Keeps Analysts in Dark on Portfolio

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund’s decision to not disclose details of its quarterly allocation breakdown has some analysts saying that the world’s biggest pension fund is backtracking on transparency. Read also Impact investing is about more than saving the world In a statement on Nov. 1, GPIF President Norihiro Takahashi said the fund won’t disclose the allocation breakdown, amounts and investment income for each asset class this fiscal year, as it reviews the composition of its basic portfolio, which totals...

November 21, 2019
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
15Nov

Social Pensions and Market Values: A Conflict?

By Quentin Detienne, Elmar Schmidt Social occupational pension schemes, i.e. compulsory pension schemes that are the result of collective bargaining, fulfil an important social function. At the same time, they seem to conflict with some fundamental single market tenets, such as the European Union (EU) Single Market’s four fundamental freedoms and competition law principles. In this respect, occupational pension schemes in the Member States seem to embody the inherent tensions contained within the EU’s social market economy: a clash...

November 15, 2019
Articles, Pension design, ,
Read more...
15Nov

The Role DC Plan Investment Menus Play in Participant Savings

A recent analysis by Alight Solutions found retirement plan participants invested in target-date funds (TDFs) are contributing less than those who don’t utilize TDFs. However, a Vanguard report highlighted the extreme growth among these investment funds—93% of plans associated with the advisory firm have adopted TDFs as of 2018. That same year, TDFs accounted for more than one-third of total Vanguard defined contribution (DC) plan assets and over half of total DC plan contributions. TDFs’ domination of the total...

November 15, 2019
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
14Nov

US. Federal pension fund to include China investments, bucking political pressure

A pension fund for federal workers on Wednesday said it will begin tracking a benchmark that includes China-listed companies, despite strong opposition from a bipartisan group of Senators. The decision by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB), an independent government agency that oversees the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) retirement fund, comes amid heightened trade tensions with China and efforts to limit the flow of U.S. capital to Chinese companies due to security concerns. It also bucks months of...

November 14, 2019
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
11Nov

Congress Eyes Barring Federal Pension Investments in China

A bipartisan push, headed by GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, has introduced a bill to stop a federal retirement fund from investing in Chinese equities. The lawmakers are worried that using the retirement money to fund Chinese companies will undermine US economic and national security. They also dislike the companies’ failure to meet financial rules that are standard in today’s developed markets. CNBC reported last month that the Trump administration was weighing a similar move. And the White...

November 11, 2019
News, Slider,
Read more...
08Nov

US. Pensions Venture Into Risky Corners of the Market in Hunt for Returns

Some pension-fund managers are venturing further into unusual investment territory as this year’s plunge in bond yields makes it harder to find decent long-term returns. Read also US. Coal Mine Workers Pension “Death” Deserves An Autopsy Funds are dabbling in riskier asset classes, including private markets, real-estate projects, infrastructure financing and direct lending. Some are making riskier fixed-income bets, buying volatile assets such as 100-year Argentine government bonds. Others are going farther afield, investing in greenhouses and waste management. Read also...

November 8, 2019
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...