September 2023
01Sep

The ‘S’ in ESG: What is the relevance for pension schemes?

Environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) issues are growing in importance and relevance for pension schemes. Action on ESG in the pensions industry has tended to focus on the “E” in ESG, and specifically on climate change. Less attention has been afforded to the other pillars of ESG, including the “S””. However, social factors should not be overlooked, as the law requires trustees to explain how they take into account financially material environmental, governance and social considerations. This blog post explores what...

September 1, 2023
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August 2023
31Aug

UK pension schemes could save £2bn in fees, research finds

UK pension schemes could save about £2bn from fees paid to asset managers without sacrificing returns, according to research that suggests price competition among institutional investors is failing to drive down costs. Asset managers often offer fee discounts to key clients such as pension schemes to win their business but details of these deals have historically been a closely guarded secret. The opacity of the market has led to wide variations in fees paid by pension schemes even when they are...

August 31, 2023
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30Aug

UK pension funds write to prime minister over net-zero policies

A group of UK pension funds have written to the prime minister warning that recent public statements and policy decisions regarding the net-zero transition are impacting investor confidence. The group, which is comprised of 36 pension schemes and investment managers, that together hold £1.5trn of assets under management yesterday (29 August) wrote to the prime minister Rishi Sunak, warning that mixed messages from the government on its support for the net-zero transition are jeopardising billions of pounds of much needed...

August 30, 2023
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30Aug

Dutch pension funds slash €28bn of Asian investments

Sales and losses have led to allocations to the region falling by more than a fifth in 15 months. Allocations to Japan, and Taiwan were the most affected, according to central bank data. A combination of sales and losses have seen Dutch pension fund allocations to Asia fall by €27.5 billion ($30.3 billion) since the last quarter of 2021. Asia allocations by the industry in the first quarter of 2023 totalled €106.6 billion, down from €134.1 billion 15 months earlier, a...

August 30, 2023
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29Aug

US. North Carolina Retirement Systems discloses $500 million in commitments

North Carolina Retirement Systems, Raleigh, committed a total of $500 million to private equity and inflation-sensitive asset funds. The $114.6 billion pension fund disclosed the commitments in a report included with the Aug. 23 investment advisory committee meeting materials on the website of Dale R. Folwell, state treasurer and sole trustee of the retirement system. The commitments closed in June and July of this year, according to the report. Within private equity, NCRS committed $150 million each to Hg Titan 2...

August 29, 2023
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28Aug

Zimbabwe: Pensioners Drown in Poverty As Companies Hold on to $47 Billion Deductions

HAVING grown up in the rural community of Chiriseri in Bindura South, Backdoor Mhunza says he witnessed the disgusting twist of circumstances which can ensue one in his old age due to reduced incomes. From experience, Mhunza could tell how chronic diseases may end up escalating among the aged who find themselves helpless and struggling to meet their basic needs, let alone paying for their medical treatment. Such childhood lessons left lasting impressions and since primary school Mhunza vowed that the...

August 28, 2023
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28Aug

Canada is burning, so why is our national pension fund still heavily into fossil fuels?

By: Patrick DeRochie   Patrick DeRochie is the senior manager of Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, a charitable project that tracks the fossil fuel investments and climate policies of Canadian pension funds, and mobilizes pension beneficiaries to engage fund managers on the climate crisis. As Canada experiences a record-shattering summer of deadly extreme weather, it’s worth remembering that our national pension fund has poured much of our retirement savings into the primary cause of the climate crisis: fossil fuels. In...

August 28, 2023
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25Aug

Sustainable funds return to outperformance in reversal of 2022, says report

Sustainable funds beat traditional funds in the first half of 2023, helped in particular by a rebound in growth stocks, according to research from Morgan Stanley. In a report, the bank’s Institute for Sustainable Investing said the median return for sustainable funds in the first half of this year was 6.9% and traditional funds’ 3.8%. Structural market factors were more favourable to sustainable funds’ positioning in the first half of 2023, according to the report. In 2022, a rapid rise in...

August 25, 2023
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25Aug

UK. Interest rates and pensions: good news and bad

The much higher interest rates we have seen in the past few months are clearly bad news for borrowers, especially for younger people trying to buy their first home. And higher long-term interest rates, pushing down the value of bonds, have hit the value of defined contribution (DC) pension pots, even though equities are up. However, it’s not all bad news, particularly not for older Britons. For those with a DC pension who have retired, or nearing retirement, higher bond interest...

August 25, 2023
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25Aug

Global Pension Risk Transfer Monitor: Record H1 Transaction Volumes in UK and US

-The Legal & General Group’s Global Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) businesses – Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI), the United Kingdom’s longest-serving active PRT provider and Legal & General Retirement America (LGRA), a leading provider of pension risk solutions in the United States – today released the latest edition of the Global PRT Monitor, which analyses industry trends and market outlooks in the UK and US. In the US, the Monitor found that last year’s record momentum for US transactions...

August 25, 2023
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