Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 19
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Asset Class ReportsEquities: Making sense of stock market concentration
The level of concentration within global equity markets is at record levels. This has significant implications for portfolio construction
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Special ReportEuropean pension fund class actions take off on a steep learning curve
What positive developments can we report relating to class actions in UK and European pension funds? What regulatory challenges still need to be overcome to facilitate (for instance, simplify) the environment for class action by UK and European institutions? Where are the key gaps in knowledge among pension funds?
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Country ReportSweden’s ethics body boosts engagement efforts
After a major review, the AP fund’s Council on Ethics has expanded its team and resources to give it more heft
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Asset Class ReportsAI: Moving from innovation to early adoption
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) capable of generating text, images and even music has stepped into the limelight after decades in the making. It will eventually have an impact across most industries, comparable to the impact of the internet. But while the world may have reached an inflection point in the usage of generative AI, a lot needs to happen before companies are positioned to take full advantage of the developments in large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT.
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Special ReportClass actions: Is Europe catching up with the US?
Europe’s institutional investors are latching on to the rewards of joining class actions against investee companies. Many of these are securities lawsuits, pursued when a publicly listed company has not properly disclosed or has misrepresented significant information, affecting the share price when the truth emerges. But so far, the vast majority of these have been in the US. In 2022, nearly $4.9bn (€4.6bn) was recovered in the US courts, according to Institutional Shareholder Services. So, what about class actions in Europe? “The US has had a class action system for over a hundred years that can be adopted for almost every cause of action, whereas the UK has only had class actions since 2015 and it is only available for competition cases,” says Harry McGowan, partner in the securities litigation department at law firm Stewarts.
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Country ReportSwedish Fund Selection Agency ramps up procurement
As the first round of tenders for the country’s new premium pension system comes to a close, agency is preparing for the next ones
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Asset Class ReportsJapanese stock market finally lives up to expectations
Stocks rally, helped by rising inflation and corporate governance reforms
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Special ReportShareholder class actions in Europe: the benefits and risks of participating
Litigation outside the United States, and in particular in Europe, has been on the rise since the US Supreme Court’s landmark 2010 decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank. In Morrison, the US Supreme Court ruled that “foreign” (non-US) investors cannot bring federal securities lawsuits in US courts to recover investment losses relating to foreign-issued securities traded on foreign exchanges (known as “F-cubed” claims). As former Justice Antonin Scalia explained, the concern was to prevent the US from becoming “the Shangri-La” of class-action litigation for lawyers representing those allegedly cheated in foreign securities markets. Although federal courts have since struggled to apply Morrison’s effect test consistently, it is clear, more than 10 years later, that the decision has had its intended effect.
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Country ReportFinland aims for pension stability
A pensions working group will investigate ways to improve the system to help strengthen the economy
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Special ReportUSS settlement with Petrobras and PWC Brazilian subsidiary
In February 2018, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) reached a settlement with PWC’s Brazilian subsidiary as part of a class action lawsuit against Petrobras.
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Country Report
Icelandic pension funds show readiness to face challenges
The proposed liquidation of Iceland’s Housing Finance Fund is the latest of a string of challenges for Icelandic pension funds
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Special ReportAP7 notches up legal success against Kraft Heinz
In May 2023, Sweden’s AP7 fund recorded a significant victory for Swedish and other investors when US food giant Kraft Heinz agreed to settle a class action lawsuit for $450m (€421m).
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Special ReportColorado fire and police settle with Cognizant
In August 2021, Fire and Police Pension Association Colorado (FPPA), alongside other plaintiffs, reached a settlement with Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation for $95m (€88.7m).
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Special ReportBuilding a class action toolbox for investors
As class actions have started to play an increasingly important role in good governance for UK and European pensions funds, the need to establish best practice in the field is growing.
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Opinion PiecesInvestors could do more to boost German start-ups
The German constitutional court’s ruling that the government’s reallocation of €60bn worth of debt to the country’s Climate and Transformation Fund is unlawful was a blow. But there was also also some welcome news last month.
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Opinion PiecesElection result is bad news for the pension sector
NSC, the new political party that made headlines in this publication with its controversial plan to block pension funds from converting DB pensions to DC without explicit consent from members, did not win the landslide victory that many pension executives feared. But they probably did not get a good night’s sleep anyway.
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Opinion PiecesActive management is back on the menu for US pensions
Rising rates and market volatility are forcing US pension funds to rethink their approach to passive and active investing. They are realising that their US stock portfolios are not diversified enough to help protect against a correction. But change may not come so fast.
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Opinion PiecesSuper funds voice corporate governance concerns with Australian business
At its recent annual general meeting in Melbourne, Qantas, Australia’s national carrier, was lambasted by irate shareholders over a litany of grievances, not least the role of chairman Richard Goyder and the board over what shareholders saw as the mismanagement of the airline.
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AnalysisIreland’s new sovereign wealth fund
The planned Future Ireland Fund (FIF) aims to cover expected future costs such as pensions and healthcare
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Opinion PiecesSecurities litigation can be worth the effort
Pension funds and other institutional investors face an uphill challenge when it comes to managing their investor action responsibilities.
