October 2022
11Oct

Impact funds grow 40% over last two years, hitting $1 trillion

Impact investing has soared 40% over the past two years, according to a fresh analysis, as more money flows into strategies that actively seek to save the planet and its people. Investor allocations to impact investing, which targets specific environmental, social or governance outcomes instead of just screening for ESG risks, now stands at more than $1 trillion, according to the Global Impact Investing Network. That growth feeds into a maelstrom of discordant views around ESG that have plunged the once...

October 11, 2022
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10Oct

US. Young versus old will define fight over public pensions

The market rout is exposing the vulnerability of U.S. public retirement programs and plannin The firestorm among U.K. pension funds is a wake-up call for their peers across the Atlantic. The end of an era of cheap money is exposing an industry that’s chronically underfunded and overexposed to market turbulence. Imagine a meeting of executives of a typical public pension fund following last quarter’s rout. Chief investment officer: 2022 has been brutal. Sixty percent of our fund is invested in equities, they’re...

October 10, 2022
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07Oct

UK. Bank of England says pension funds were hours from disaster before it intervened

The Bank of England told lawmakers that a number of pension funds were hours from collapse when it decided to intervene in the U.K. long-dated bond market last week. The central bank’s Financial Policy Committee stepped in after a massive sell-off of U.K. government bonds — known as “gilts” — following the new government’s fiscal policy announcements on Sept. 23. The emergency measures included a two-week purchase program for long-dated bonds and the delay of the bank’s planned gilt sales, part...

October 7, 2022
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07Oct

Leadership and sustainability: are they mutually exclusive?

As investors, we find ourselves facing a dramatically changed macroeconomic backdrop and a raft of potentially systemic risks which threaten our collective future. How do we balance our role as stewards of our clients’ money with our obligations as sustainable investors? It is a leader’s primary responsibility to provide direction, pace, and clarity of purpose. Furthermore, a leader must address conflicting priorities, make uncomfortable decisions and be prepared to deal with the consequences. A leader is also ultimately responsible for ensuring...

October 7, 2022
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06Oct

UK. LDI Fallout Will Spur Pension Funds to Seek Life Sector Arrangements

The sudden need for pension funds to put up large amounts of extra collateral due to tumbling gilt prices will lead more UK defined-benefit pension funds to favour pension risk transfer deals with life insurers over liability-driven investment (LDI) arrangements with asset managers, Fitch Ratings says. The rapid drop in gilt prices following the UK’s ‘mini-Budget’ on 23 September led to a sharp increase in collateral requirements from many LDI funds as derivative contracts protecting against lower interest rates moved...

October 6, 2022
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06Oct

Hong Kong Pensions See Record Plunge of 22% – SCMP

The territory’s Mandatory Provision Fund lost $32.98 billion, equating to $7,197.63 per person, the South China Morning Post reported Hong Kong’s pension fund lost 21.5% on average in the first nine months of the year, its worst performance in 22 years, The South China Morning Post reported. The country’s Mandatory Provision Fund (MPF) lost $32.98 billion, equating to $7,197.63 per person, said the report. Analysts attributed the loss to the plunge in stock markets in Hong Kong and on mainland China,...

October 6, 2022
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05Oct

UK. Renewed focus on pension fund investment strategy following Bank of England’s intervention in gilt market

The ramifications of the Bank of England's urgent purchasing of government bonds are being felt by pension funds and some insurance firms. The upheaval in gilt (UK government bond) markets that led to last week's spectacular intervention from the Bank of England continues to reverberate. The Bank was obliged to buy long-dated gilts - those with a maturity of 20 or 30 years - on Wednesday last week following a wave of forced selling by pension funds. Those pension funds had been...

October 5, 2022
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September 2022
30Sep

Ghana. SSNIT pension scheme continues to post negative return on investments; records -12.6% return in quarter 1 – Report

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) pension scheme continued to post a negative real rate of return, recording -12.6% at the end of the first quarter of this year. According to the Financial Stability Review report by the Bank of Ghana, assets available for benefits of the SSNIT-managed Basic National Social Security Scheme (BNSSS) dropped marginally by 2.3% to ¢11.28 billion in March 2022 from the ¢11.54 billion recorde in 2021 Quarter 4. Also, though the private pensions industry...

September 30, 2022
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29Sep

BoE’s £65bn move driven by pension fund panic

The Bank of England stepped in to calm markets after some types of pension funds were at risk of collapse. It pledged to buy £65bn of government bonds after Friday's mini-budget sparked turmoil on financial markets and the pound plunged. Investors had demanded a much higher return for investing in government bonds, causing some to halve in value. Pension funds, which invest in bonds, were forced to start selling, sparking fears of a fresh market downturn. The Bank said its decision to buy...

September 29, 2022
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29Sep

With Interest Rates Rising, Companies Look to Unload Pension Liabilities

The funding status of defined-benefit pension plans has been lifted by rising interest rates, which are expected to increase further Rising interest rates are boosting corporate pension plans, providing finance chiefs with an option to lighten their companies’ balance sheets and transfer obligations to insurers. The U.S. central bank has raised interest rates five times this year as it battles persistent high inflation, including last week when it opted for the third consecutive 0.75-point interest-rate increase and indicated further rate action. When...

September 29, 2022
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