December 2023
11Dec

BP pension nears deal to sell portfolio worth as much as $800m

The defined benefit pension scheme of one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies is close to offloading a portfolio of private market fund stakes, Secondaries Investor has learned. BP’s DB pension has been shopping a portfolio around $700 million to $800 million, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Campbell Lutyens is understood to be the adviser on the deal. The sale of the portfolio started in the second quarter of this year, according to the two sources. The...

December 11, 2023
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November 2023
28Nov

Africa running out of time to sort looming pensions crisis

An expert at the ongoing 4th Annual Conference of the African Pension Supervisors Association (APSA) in Kampala has said urgent steps need to be taken to reverse a trend in which the continent has only 10% pension coverage of its population. Sundeep Raichura, Group Chief Executive Officer Zamara says that before African experts can talk of extending pension coverage, they must first admit it has no working pension system, in order for the leaders to focus on getting home grown...

November 28, 2023
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24Nov

UK pension transfer boom continues as deals worth $11 bln struck

Two British insurers on Friday struck deals to take on a combined 8.8 billion pounds ($11 billion) of company pension liabilities, including the largest such UK deal so far, as pension schemes strive to limit their risks in volatile markets. Legal & General (LGEN.L) said it had agreed a so-called full buy-in to the Boots Pension Scheme worth 4.8 billion pounds, in what it said was the largest such deal in Britain by premium size. Pension insurance specialist Rothesay, meanwhile, said it...

November 24, 2023
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24Nov

Romania Pension Law Could Pose Medium-Term Fiscal Risk

Romania’s new pension law could result in a less favourable sovereign debt trajectory and weaken fiscal credibility over the medium term if implemented as planned and without offsetting measures, Fitch Ratings says. The eventual impact will depend on the broader direction of fiscal policy, including efforts to exit the ongoing Excessive Deficit Procedure. The new law, which received parliamentary approval on 20 November, is intended to remove inconsistencies in how state pensions are calculated as part of efforts to improve...

November 24, 2023
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17Nov

US Pension Risk Transfer Market Expected to See $10 Billion In Q3 Deal Volume

Legal & General Retirement America (LGRA), a leading provider of pension risk solutions in the United States, today released the Q3 2023 edition of the US Pension Risk Transfer Monitor, which analyzes industry trends and market outlooks in the US. Following the largest first half on record for the US Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) market at $22.5 billion in deal volume, the Monitor reports an expected $10 billion in Q3 PRT market volume. While this is a decrease from last...

November 17, 2023
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14Nov

UK. ESG: Biodiversity And Nature Risks For Pension Schemes

While climate risk has increasingly been at the top of the agenda for trustees in recent years, biodiversity and nature risk has occasionally been overlooked, despite the serious financial implications stemming from these issues. The World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report 2023 cited "biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse" as the fourth most significant global risk over the next ten years. In light of this, pension regulators are focusing their attention on biodiversity risk management.  A guide recently produced by...

November 14, 2023
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October 2023
26Oct

US. Pension risk transfer pipeline remains robust, even if falling short of 2022 record

The U.S. pension risk transfer market remains robust in 2023, although it may not break the record for dollar volume set in 2022, experts say. This is despite a new record for dollar volume in the first half of 2023, totaling $22.5 billion in premiums paid for pension buyout transactions, according to research firm LIMRA. In 2022, the total volume was $48.3 billion, driven primarily by corporate pension funds' improving funding ratios, which have enabled many to pull the trigger on...

October 26, 2023
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24Oct

Fund managers are updating bond models to capture a new risk

A growing number of asset managers is reassessing bond values tied to real assets, as a spike in the frequency of flash floods, fires and storms hits conventional pricing models. Mitch Reznick, head of sustainable fixed income at Federated Hermes, says climate risk is a key reason why the investment manager is now underweight real estate credit. Jonathan Bailey, global head of ESG and impact investing at Neuberger Berman Group, says he's increasingly looking at whether issuers have enough capital to...

October 24, 2023
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20Oct

Global Pension Risk Survey: UK Findings 2023/24

By Aon The Global Pension Risk Survey has been running every two years for over a decade and it gives the pension industry great insight into how the pensions landscape has developed. The 2023 findings show that many pension schemes are grappling with recent challenges including persistent high inflation, rising interest rates and a raft of regulatory change. Schemes are having to prioritise carefully which actions they will address and when, while also navigating the risk of non-compliance as well as...

October 20, 2023
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17Oct

US. DOL working on pension risk transfer rule review amid hot market

While pension risk transfer (PRT) deals continue to break records, federal regulators are nearing a deadline for review and recommendations of Interpretative Bulletin 95-1. Issued by the Department of Labor in 1995, IB-95 lays out the fiduciary standards for selecting an annuity provider for a pension risk transfer. Under the rule, pensions must consider the provider’s investment portfolio, size relative to the annuity contract, level of capital and surplus, liability exposure, and availability of state government guaranty associations. According to provisions in the...

October 17, 2023
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