Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 12
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Asset Class ReportsFixed income: European high yield stands its ground
Investors flocked to the European junk bond market last year and despite a strong US economy, there is still appetite for European issuers
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Country ReportProgress report on the UK’s Mansion House capital market reforms
Details of potential changes to the UK’s pension landscape have been thin on the ground
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Asset Class ReportsGreen bonds reach escape velocity
The green bond market looks set to grow further, despite pressure from many sides and key questions over their function
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Country ReportHow consolidation might affect the UK’s local government pension sector
There is political consensus on the need for local government pension schemes to merge, but the question of in-house asset management is less straightforward
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Asset Class ReportsThe quest for innovation in sustainable fixed income
Japan’s climate transition bond is the latest in a string of innovative developments in sustainable fixed income
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Asset Class ReportsClosing the data gap in green, social and sustainability-linked bonds
Luxembourg’s bourse has capitalised on its experience as a green bond hub
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Country ReportSolvency UK: tweaks likely to bring only marginal gains
The UK’s reforms of the Solvency II framework are unlikely to be enough to usher in a big wave of investment in domestic productive assets by insurers
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Country ReportBridging the stewardship gap between companies and investors
Findings of research into how well corporates and investors communicate
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Country ReportMercer’s upbeat vision for UK pension funds and their investment advisers
James Lewis, UK CIO at Mercer, is optimistic about the future of the UK’s DB and DC industries
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Opinion PiecesBond markets look set to become the new stewardship powerbroking arena
Investors in bond markets are starting to assume a more powerful position than equity investors to influence companies and countries. Innovation is sweeping through bond markets with the introduction of specific ‘use of proceeds’ bonds and sustainability-linked bonds.
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Opinion PiecesTime is running out for Germany's planned pension reforms
The German government is in the final stretches of an ambitious but tortuous journey to reform the three pillars of the pension system.
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AnalysisSmall island states turn to institutional investors to protect oceans
Small island developing states may have a total population of only around 65 million, but through their exclusive economic zones they control about 30% of oceans and seas, according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
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Opinion PiecesUS public pension funds focus on labour practices in private equity
Private equity has become dependent on public pension funds, which represent almost one-third of all investors in the asset class. These schemes invested 13% of their assets – over $620bn (€580bn) in 2022 – up from 3.5% in 2001 and 8.3% in 2011, according to data from public pension research non-profit Equable Institute.
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Opinion PiecesAustralia faces up to the cost of pandemic pension early release
Four years after Australians were allowed to withdraw superannuation savings to deal with the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, they now know emergency measures will cost the nation A$85bn (€51bn) in future pension payments.
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Book ReviewThe importance of board decisions in an uncertain world
In the foreword to this new book, the CIO of CERN Pension Fund, Dr Elena Manola-Bonthond, says that, in her experience, investment alpha is scarce and very often difficult to access. It can be costly and its persistence is sometimes questionable. But there are other types of alpha that are more accessible and governance alpha is definitely one of them.
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Opinion PiecesStriking the right balance on pension funds and fiduciary duty
Pension fund investment principles, strategies and decision-making have all become more complex in the wake of the growth of sustainability factors in general and climate change in particular. This has made the interpretation and practice of trustee ‘fiduciary duties’ more vexed and challenging than ever. A recent review of fiduciary duties in the UK by the Financial Markets Law Committee (FMLC) put it this way: “It is sometimes easier to state the duties than it is to apply them.”
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InterviewsMerseyside pension fund dials down domestic bias
Scheme’s strategic ambition is to move closer to the MSCI World index weightings
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FeaturesUK creates social factors template for pension investors
Environmental and governance risks receive much attention, but UK and other European institutional investors have focused less on social factors and their complexities.
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FeaturesPrivate credit secondaries come of age
Since the secondaries market came into existence, private equity has been the dominant asset class, but the tide is turning. It is finally time for private equity’s more youthful counterpart, private credit, to receive more of our attention. The private credit secondaries market borrows various elements from its older sibling, including best practices and deal structures, and it is now demanding the spotlight as awareness of the asset class increases.
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FeaturesUS economy continues to surprise
The resilience of the US economy continues to confound observers. The Federal Reserve’s 11 hikes in interest rates over the course of 2022 and 2023 were implemented to rein in economic strength and to stifle inflation. Scroll forward to the second quarter of 2024 and both inflation and economic activity are still higher than expected.
