March 2024
27Mar

Little planning for looming retirement crisis, BlackRock chief warns

The chief executive of the world’s largest asset manager is warning of a future “retirement crisis”, as pension savings fail to keep up with life-extending medical breakthroughs. In his annual letter to investors, the BlackRock chief executive, Larry Fink, said that establishing “a secure, well-earned retirement” would be one of the greatest economic challenges to face the US in the mid-21st century. The boss of BlackRock, which manages about $10tn (£7.4tn) in assets, including retirement funds, praised medical advances, including obesity drugs such...

March 27, 2024
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22Mar

Pension funds and fossil fuel phase-out: historical developments and limitations of pension climate strategies

 By Clara McDonnell Despite the decades of international climate negotiations and several landmark agreements, global efforts to date to restrict fossil fuel production in line with climate targets have been unsuccessful. As national and international policies continue to fall short of phasing out fossil fuels, increasing attention has been paid to non-state actors, like pension funds, as a potential source of more ambitious climate action. As major asset owners, large shareholders in fossil fuel companies, and historically activist investors, pension...

March 22, 2024
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20Mar

World’s largest pension fund explores bitcoin as an investment

Japan's government pension fund on Tuesday said it is requesting information on "illiquidity assets" such as bitcoin, as part of research into potential new investments. The Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) of Japan, the world's largest pension fund by assets under management on several different rankings, said it is looking for "basic information" on illiquid assets other than those in which it already invests. GPIF said it currently puts funds in domestic and foreign bonds and stocks, real estate, infrastructure and private equity....

March 20, 2024
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19Mar

US. CalPERS pledges more than $8 billion to alts

CalPERS committed $850 million each to Global Infrastructure Partners V and a co-investment sidecar fund. Pension fund officials committed $512 million to buyout fund CVC Capital Partners IX, $300 million to Asia-Pacific focused buyout fund CVC Capital Partners Asia VI, and $268 million to buyout fund Whitney Global Partners II, all managed by CVC Capital Partners. CalPERS committed an additional $300 million to Thrive Capital Partners VIII Growth, a late- stage venture capital fund. It also committed $300 million each...

March 19, 2024
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15Mar

The next stage of ESG evolution in the pension landscape

By Investment Institute A juggernaut that’s losing momentum or just refiring its engine? This question on ESG investing has come to the fore due to a confluence of exceptional events in 2022. After meeting investors’ return expectations since the 2015 Paris Agreement, last year’s savage bear market hit a broad range of investment strategies, no matter their intrinsic merits. ESG was no exception. The episode showed that ESG investments are exposed to periodic setbacks due to a larger dynamic that has little to do with...

March 15, 2024
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15Mar

Unpackaging ESG: Evidence from 401(k) Investment

By Jiaxing Tian & Jiahong Shi We study how investors respond to scandals related to three distinct aspects of ESG--E(nvironmental), S(ocial) and G(overnance)--in their retirement savings. Using data on 401(k) investments, we show that nearby ESG scandals correlate with increased ESG fund additions and flows, possibly through ``evoking'' their existing sustainable preferences. Investors with different characteristics respond heterogeneously to E, S and G scandals. In magnitude, old investors are twice as likely as young investors to add ESG funds to...

March 15, 2024
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14Mar

Bitcoin ETFs to pull in pension fund investments

By Lucas Cacioli   In light of mounting evidence and evolving market infrastructure, it seems increasingly likely that institutional investors like pension funds are moving towards a tipping point where bitcoin ETFs will be seriously considered as part of a diversified investment strategy. During a private conversation I had with a pension fund CEO late into 2023, I couldn’t help but ask how far away their fund was from ever investing in something like bitcoin. “Far,” they said without hesitation. The response was unsurprising...

March 14, 2024
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12Mar

U.S. institutional investors warm to Asian digital assets

Institutional investors from the U.S. are showing interest in Asian digital assets — much more than they did a year ago — and it will likely grow as more cryptocurrency ETFs may get approved globally, said Matt Long, Asia-Pacific general manager at digital asset prime brokerage FalconX, in an exclusive interview. "Last year, there was not a lot of liquidity in the (digital asset) markets. There was less positive sentiment, more uncertainty coming out of 2022, which was annus horribilis...

March 12, 2024
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12Mar

US. Comptroller DiNapoli Declares Exxon Not Transition-Ready: Who’s Next?

The New York State Common Retirement Fund recently announced it will restrict investment in eight energy companies, including ExxonMobilXOM -0.5%, following a review of the companies' "transition readiness" to a low-carbon economy. Overseeing the $250 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund for public employees, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli defended the move, reiterating his broader ambitions to keep climate change "at the forefront" of the state pension fund's investment risk mitigation efforts. DiNapoli wants us to think he's doing so solely to protect pension fund members, not...

March 12, 2024
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08Mar

Pension Funds Market to Reach $109.1 trillion, Globally, by 2032 at 5.5% CAGR: Allied Market Research

The demographic shifts, regulatory shifts, and the growing emphasis on sustainable and responsible investing, driven by increasing awareness of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are expanding the market reach of pension funds. Prime determinants of growth As populations age globally, the demand for pension products rises, compelling funds to adapt their investment strategies for long-term sustainability. Regulatory changes, aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability within the pension industry, push funds to adopt more sophisticated risk management practices. However, economic uncertainties...

March 8, 2024
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