September 2024

Pension Risk Transfer Monitor

By Legal & General  In this latest edition of our Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) Monitor, we off¬er a side-by-side analysis of the two largest PRT markets globally – the US and UK. We expect PRT volumes to remain elevated across the next decade. Based on current levels, more than £250 billion of combined UK and US volumes are likely to be secured by insurers in the next 3 years alone. In this bulletin we reflect on the first half of...

The world’s largest pension funds – 2024

By Thinking Ahead Institute The global top 300 pension funds is an annual study conducted by the Thinking Ahead Institute, in conjunction with Pensions and Investments. The research highlights high-level trends in the pension fund industry and provides information on how the characteristics of these top funds have changed. Get the report here

World’s largest pension funds return to growth

The world’s largest 300 pension funds returned to growth in 2023, erasing much of the decline of the previous year. However, the assets of the largest pension funds are still not yet back to their record highs, according to this year’s Global Top 300 Pension Funds report by leading global advisory, broking and solutions company WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute. The research highlights high-level trends in the pension fund industry and provides information on the changing composition of the top 300 list of...

Buoyant markets pump up largest retirement plan assets to $22.6 trillion in 2023

Assets of the world’s top 300 retirement plans increased by 10% in 2023 to a total $22.64 trillion, staging a recovery from their 12.9% decline in 2022, according to the according to the latest annual survey by Pensions & Investments and Willis Towers Watson PLC's Thinking Ahead Institute. The plans benefited from the recovery of markets, which have picked up momentum and generally did better in 2023, said Jessica Gao, London-based director at the Thinking Ahead Institute. “But we still have interest-rate pressure...

Positioning for change: Public pensions after the great moderation

By Institutional Investor Survey   Investors apparently predict 2023 will look much like 2022, as rising interest rates and market volatility also remained top of mind for decision-makers. They also forecasted another tough period for investment returns next year. Concerns over inflation and a potential economic downturn loomed large in our survey as asset allocation influences.1 The top three concerns for these decision-makers are the need to navigate high inflation, market volatility and rising interest rates. Get the report here

UK and US pension risk transfer market to exceed £250bn in next three years

Legal & General has today released the latest edition of its Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) Monitor, which analyses industry trends and market outlooks in the UK and US. Findings from the report show: The UK PRT market has completed an estimated £20bn of buy-ins and buyouts in the year to date The US market experienced a record breaking first half, estimated at $26bn Both markets are on track for one of their largest years ever, with a significant increase in the number...

How European countries are reforming pensions to tackle rising costs, worker shortages

German measures to incentivize workers to retire later come as governments across Europe are turning to pension reforms to address worker shortages and ease the burden on their pension systems. Here is what other European countries are doing. FRANCE Almost half of all developed countries are expected to raise their official retirement age in the future, resulting in an average age of retirement of 66 years within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Nevertheless, this is a politically divisive topic, which can have a...

US. Fortune 500 pension plans shift $1B to bonds

Many pension managers are allotting more assets to long-term investment-grade corporate bonds, reported Standish Mellon Asset Management Co. LLC of Boston today. The firm, which is the fixed-income specialist for BNY Mellon Asset Management and a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corp., said that 15 Fortune 500-company pension plans have added about $1 billion to their bond portfolios since January. Nearly half of the $1 billion is new money and the rest is re-allocated, said BNY...

Danish pension fund leaves Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance

Danish pension fund PKA has withdrawn as a member of the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA), the fourth exit from the initiative and the first in more than a year, Responsible Investor can reveal. The €59.1 billion fund, which manages four pension plans within the social and healthcare sectors, joined the NZAOA in March 2021 and withdrew its support from the UN-backed group, which is part of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), on 31 August. A spokesperson for...

August 2024

Australian regulator plans stress test on private credit risks

Australia’s banking regulator plans to stress test the nation’s financial sector to shed more light on the impact of private credit capital flows on other market segments. “Private credit is a new and emerging risk that we are looking at,” said John Lonsdale, chair of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) at a media conference in Sydney on Aug. 28. “We want to work on more transparency in this area and we’ve signaled that already there is quite a lot...