Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 23
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Asset Class ReportsPenSam focuses on funds
Four European pension schemes outline their activity in the private credit market
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Country ReportPrevimoda fine tunes for better results
In 2023, Previmoda, the pension fund for the fashion and textile sector, rejigged the strategic asset allocation of its sub-funds Smeraldo Bilanciato, which has a higher exposure to fixed-income, and the equity-focused Rubino Azionario.
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Opinion PiecesA mid-year stock take on ESG: talk is no longer cheap
It’s halftime for 2024, which offers a convenient reason to reflect on where we are with respect to ESG investing. I’d say the outlook is pretty good. That’s because, as global equity impact investor WHEB Asset Management says, the “ESG tourists – asset managers that stampeded into the sustainability market just a few years ago – are now packing their bags” as the depth and breadth of anti-greenwashing regulation bite.
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Opinion PiecesThe buyout pendulum starts to swing back to the DB norm
Vogue fashion magazine reports that flared trousers and mullets are back after a 50-year absence. They were not a good look even then, but fashion has its own drivers which do not necessarily involve good taste or even practicalities.
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FeaturesHow the EU's pay transparency directive affects pension sponsors
Pay transparency is looking set to be the employment hot topic of at least the next few years and reflects an ongoing global conversation around addressing equal pay. The latest figures in the EU put the gender pay gap at around 12.7% and the gender pension gap at in excess of 30%, with very little movement over the last few years. Greater transparency over pay is the route being adopted in a growing number of countries as the silver bullet to accelerate progress.
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FeaturesReforms are needed to improve pensions in emerging markets
The emerging world is ageing the fastest. Despite having the advantage of a young population, emerging countries are expected to transition to older age groups within 25 years, a change that took over 150 years in some developed nations.
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FeaturesAnalysts push back on rate cuts
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s June press conference was, like most careful central bank-speak, open to interpretation. It was possibly slightly dovish with a hint of hawk. However, in the aftermath of the press conference, and following a few busy days of US economic data releases, many analysts have pushed back their forecasts for the number of interest rate cuts this year.
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InterviewsAustralia’s Challenger takes credit and affiliates global
Some 2.5 million Australians are set to retire over the next decade, according to the country’s Treasury. This ageing population has challenged Australia’s A$3.6trn (€2.3trn) superannuation fund sector, and the industry as a whole is pivoting more heavily towards the decumulation phase.
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AnalysisLove it or hate it, ESG is here to stay
The latest wave of regulatory and policy measures will benefit different aspects of ESG investing
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Opinion PiecesWhy the green transition throws up workforce and pension challenges
Pensions are a hot topic in corporate Germany, where skills shortages and an ageing workforce have led to a war for talent, as well as a renaissance in occupational retirement provision in the fight for workforce skills.
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FeaturesThe next Magnificent Sevens are hiding in plain sight
Like the so-called FANGs that preceded them, one could argue that the Magnificent Seven group of US tech mega-caps that accounted for a large portion of market performance in 2023 are now a part of Wall Street’s history books. Besides two names that have continued to pull away from the pack, the group is no longer commanding investors’ undivided attention.
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InterviewsPreparation is key to countering pensions cyber risk
Pension funds face very real cyber security risks and must prepare for regulatory changes, such as the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act. IPE asked European pension funds about their strategies to deal with cyber crime
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InterviewsATP's long game in investment strategy
Christian Kjaer, head of liquid markets at Denmark’s ATP, talks to Carlo Svaluto Moreolo about the institution’s liquid assets portfolio and his knack for game theory.
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FeaturesCyber catastrophe bonds make a debut as insurers offload risk
Cyber catastrophe bonds may be the new kid on the insurance-linked securities (ILS) block, but they have been talked about for years. The jury is out, though, as to whether they will follow the same trajectory as their natural cat bond peers. While some analysts believe they have the potential to go mainstream, others cite concerns over modelling and lack of diversification.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - July 2024
Both US presidential candidates are slowly losing popularity, while staying very close in the polls. Trump seems to have more trouble than Biden getting through to the undecided. Trump’s legal troubles may yet hinder his candidacy, in particular among independents.
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Opinion PiecesDevelopment banks need to be more transparent to mobilise private capital
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have caught the imagination of impact-oriented investors, as achieving them requires mobilisation of private capital on a massive scale. However, taking on the risks associated with many of the SDG-oriented investment goals is too much to bear for many private investors.
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Opinion PiecesSwitzerland’s refreshing bottom-up approach to regulation contrasts favourably with the EU
Switzerland’s bottom-up approach to sustainable investing and ESG reporting rules seems to be travelling in the opposite direction to the path chosen by the EU.
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Opinion PiecesItaly needs a serious debate about pensions
Italian policymakers are bent on indulging the relatively small but influential minority of Italians that is nearing retirement, but lament that the statutory retirement age of 67 is too high. The reform efforts of past years have been towards reducing the retirement age or increasing flexibility in retirement. The resources employed towards supporting second-pillar pensions have been next to none.
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Opinion PiecesThe US perspective on a mixed proxy season
Opinion is divided on whether opposition to environmental and social considerations are increasing following the 2024 annual general meeting season in the US.
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Opinion PiecesAustralia's regulator cracks down on greenwashing
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has won its first greenwashing case in a civil action against Vanguard Investments.
