Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 30
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Asset Class Reports
Equities – Testing times for high-conviction equity strategies
Today’s environment may favour stock picking, but investors continue to face pressures to justify the added risks
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Country Report
Nordic region: Alecta faces an uphill battle
The regulator is investigating the pension fund, and it is clear the scheme will have to make some effort to restore its reputation after huge losses on US bank investments
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Special Report
Outlook – Europe and the world: US overtakes Europe in clean-energy production
Incentives package for US-based clean energy investments is seen by some as a threat to Europe’s industrial competitiveness
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Asset Class Reports
Equities – Does location matter in the corporate listings debate?
The number of listed companies have fallen dramatically, but London remains a preferred global financial centre
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Country Report
Nordic region: Swedish pensions at a crossroads
The country’s Pension Agency has come up with three proposals: review, reform or remain the same
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Country Report
Nordic region: NBIM looks to diversity to improve decision making
The manager of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund kickstarted its diversity and inclusion programme in 2020, and has since focused on embracing new measures to become more diverse
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Special Report
Outlook – Europe and the world: UK launches its own approach to green investment
The focus is on financial regulation rather than economic policy to drive decarbonisation
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Country Report
Nordic region: Knut Kjaer on the future Norway's sovereign wealth
NBIM’s founding CEO Knut Kjær talks about Norway’s sovereign wealth fund adapting to changing geopolitical and economic realities
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Special Report
Outlook – Europe and the world: Ageing Europe puts strain on growth
The continent is the oldest in the world, with fast shrinking populations and lower fertility rates
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Country Report
Nordic region: Finnish solvency rules raise questions about risk
Many argue that the current rules are too restrictive, hampering investment returns
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Opinion Pieces
Better the equity market devil you know?
Being a large equity investor in a relatively small domestic market can have advantages as well as drawbacks. Proximity to the market and its infrastructure, good knowledge of corporates and corporate leaders, and the ability to exercise strong influence as an owner, potentially a stable long-term one, all count among the advantages. The need to avoid concentration – in terms of position, sizing and overall allocations – and idiosyncratic sector exposure are among the challenges.
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Opinion Pieces
German pensions sector backs cost rethink
Applause, which started mildly but ended robustly, suddenly reverberated in a packed Berlin conference room a few weeks ago. An audience of industry experts, pension managers, associations and trade unions clapped at the suggestion that Germany’s BaFin regulator should avoid repeating its exercise on cost reporting for IORPs, initiated by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and implemented in turn by BaFin. The exercise was a disappointment, and an excessive, unnecessary effort for the German pension industry.
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Opinion Pieces
Carbon reduction: absolute goals, please
Dutch healthcare scheme PFZW last month reluctantly changed its 50% CO2 reduction target for 2030 from a relative to an absolute target, following in the footsteps of fellow Dutch pension funds ABP and PME. The fund cited the “negative sentiment” around relative targets as a reason for its change of heart.
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Features
Research: ESG investing: not just a bull market luxury
The bear market of 2022 brought a halt to outperformance by ESG portfolios, leading Sebastian Schiele and Amin Rajan to consider whether this is a blip or turnaround
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Interviews
On the record: Is there a credit crunch on the horizon?
European pension funds reflect on the possible implications of rising interest rates and the troubles of the US banking sector
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Features
ESG comes to money market funds
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing has permeated every corner of the asset management universe, and money market funds (MMFs) are no exception. European funds are under much greater scrutiny than their US and UK peers thanks to the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), which came into effect two years ago. The result is that many MMFs are busy changing their classification to meet the higher standards.
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Interviews
Vontobel: Builders in a changing landscape
Christel Rendu de Lint, a veteran of Swiss asset and wealth management, sees herself as a builder. This claim has justification given her track record at UBP, where she built a fixed-income capability from scratch to CHF20bn (€20.5bn) over 12 years.
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Features
BlackRock executive pegs inequality with new opportunity index
“Inequality is both a risk and an opportunity that should be measured,” says Gavin Lewis in a conversation about his book ‘The Opportunity Index: A solution-based framework to dismantle the racial wealth gap’. Growing up in a single parent household without a father in Tottenham, a predominantly black area of London with high poverty levels, Lewis is well qualified to have a view on inequality. But as a managing director at BlackRock, is he also an example of the exception that proves the rule?
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Opinion Pieces
US: state enrolment systems gain traction
There are signs that the US state-facilitated retirement savings plans are starting to have a positive impact on both the creation and uptake of private pension plans.
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Opinion Pieces
Guest viewpoint: Standardised data on diversity and inclusion will help team development
Promoting inclusiveness and diversity in organisations is key to discovering their human capital potential. But fostering a culture of continuous improvement is critical if this is to be fully realised.