September 2023

Pension Savings Are an Emerging UK Political Battleground

Nothing says an election is looming more than a raft of proposed policies that have been collecting dust on think tank shelves for years . UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has been dropping heavy hints of reforms and enhancements targeted at Conservatives’ core voters — namely people who follow changes in pensions and savings. The underlying theme is Buy UK equities. Hunt will seek to address getting UK savers to stop hoarding cash and making it easier for...

UK pensions pull back from private equity

The steady increase in UK interest rates since the start of last year has resulted in improved funding ratios for the plans that comprise this $1.67tn pool of capital, allowing them to move money out of buyout and venture capital funds and into less risky assets, according to several pension system managers and consultants. Traditional pensions have been a mainstay source of capital to sponsored funds for decades, but changed market conditions since last year have caused that flow to...

Ghana. Financial sector assets see 95% growth

The nation’s financial sector assets’ value in nominal terms has almost doubled – recording a growth of 94.96 percent between the end of 2017 and 2022; a period marked by sector clean-ups, the COVID-19 pandemic, Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) as well as recapitalisation of institutions in the sector. This was contained in the Ghana Financial Stability Review dubbed ‘Managing financial stability risks in the midst of a difficult macroeconomic environment and Domestic Debt Exchange Programme’, released by the sector’s...

Dutch pension funds move hundreds of billions in assets to mandates

Dutch pension funds have transferred €372bn in assets from investment funds to mandates over the past three and a half years. Mandates make it easier for funds to implement their responsible investment policies. Pension funds’ net investments in investment funds used to be fairly stable, but from the end of 2019 outflows gradually started to accelerate, according to figures from regulator DNB. A DNB spokesman said that conversations with pension funds have indicated that these holdings have generally been converted to...

UK. How can the pensions market help diversify DC savings?

There is a wide gap between the defined benefit and defined contribution generations in terms of the standard of living they are heading into for in retirement. Narrowing this gap was identified as a key driver for government by pensions minister Laura Trott in her keynote address to Onward, which she delivered the day after chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Mansion House speech. But while many who represent pension providers are clamouring for this gap to be filled by additional contributions, the government says we can...

AI in Investment Management: Separating Hype from Reality

Daily advances in artificial intelligence are leading some to herald it as the next frontier in asset management. AI can generate opportunity with new investment ideas and sources of alpha, as well as improve the risk management of existing quantitative models while creating new ones. But which developments are real and actionable, and which are simply noise? “What we’re seeing is, in a way, remarkable. The level of awareness of the technology has increased massively,” said Benjamin Roy, chief technology officer...

The Future of Global Retirement

By Andrew Evans & Will Wynne Smart is a world-leading retirement technology provider. Our mission is to transform retirement, savings and financial wellbeing, across all generations, around the world. Launched in 2015, our technology platform – Keystone – serves the needs of retirement savers globally, and we are now active on four continents. Keystone is specifically designed to help governments and financial services organisations to serve their citizens' and customers' retirement saving and spending needs. Smart’s team of engineers, researchers and user...

2023 BlackRock Read on Retirement

By Black Rock If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that burnout is real. Three years on, it turns out it’s not just a workplace side effect. BlackRock’s 2023 Read on Retirement™️ survey reveals that financial burnout is on the rise – and one for employers to watch. Today, only about half of workplace savers feel on track to retire with the lifestyle they want – a double-digit drop compared to last year and a worrisome trend since 2021. Encouragingly, though, this drop in...

2023 Retirement Plan Landscape Report

By MorningStar  Millions of Americans rely on the U.S. retirement system to save and invest for their futures. Similarly, the system depends on new employers offering retirement plans to replace plan closures. Expanding access to employer-sponsored retirement plans is essential to ensuring Americans are saving enough for the future, but it’s also necessary for the current system to address its weakness. In the second iteration of our annual report, we take a comprehensive look at the overall health of the...

Canada pension funds stay committed to India investments amid diplomatic tensions

Amid India-Canada diplomatic tensions, Canadian pension funds have retained their substantial Indian equity holdings, demonstrating a steadfast long-term approach. Market experts believe that Canadian investors continue to show commitment to India, minimising the influence of current tensions on their investments. "Pension funds, known for their long-term investment perspective, typically do not react hastily to such geopolitical events. They maintain a strategic outlook and are likely to wait for developments before making any major adjustments. There's a reasonable expectation that this...