Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 43
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Country ReportItaly: Pension investors raise their sustainability game
Pension funds and other institutions are making greater use of engagement and voting as they pursue their ESG goals
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Country ReportItaly: Pension funds face SFDR test
A significant number of pension funds have classified their portfolios under the EU’s flagship sustainability disclosure regulation
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Country ReportItaly: Government plans to draw in capital for domestic investment
The right-wing government is moving forward with plans to create a €1bn fund, amid criticism and lukewarm investor support
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FeaturesAccounting: Corporate reporting at a crossroads
When the definitive history of modern corporate reporting is written, historians will no doubt step back in awe. They will marvel at the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) decision to issue its management commentary proposals only to inherit the integrated reporting framework and then waste substantial energy grappling with the complexities of aligning or even merging the two.
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FeaturesDiscerning investor sentiment: this year’s proxy season
Every annual general meeting (AGM) season has traditionally brought with it a few symbolic moments – events that serve as broader indicators of the market’s mood when it comes to environmental and social issues.
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FeaturesFX in waiting mode after lively 2022
After a long period of muted volatility, currency markets sprang back into action in 2022 as geopolitical risk and diverging monetary policy came to the fore. This year it is quieter, but markets remain rattled over the unpredictable interest rate scenarios. As a result, many market participants are waiting for a sharper picture to emerge.
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InterviewsSweden's AP3: Adding value through active management
Pablo Bernengo, CIO of Tredje AP-fonden (AP3), talks to Carlo Svaluto Moreolo about the fund’s active approach to investment
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InterviewsFranklin Templeton’s Jenny Johnson: Finding the way through the noise
When Jenny Johnson arrives, the atmosphere changes. She is composed, smiling and friendly and her boundless energy fills the room.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: Annuities move into the US market
Three of the largest players in the US pension industry are launching new products that offer annuities as a retirement savings distribution option. Millions of Americans will soon have access to pension-like investments in their 401(k) plans thanks to BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, and State Street Global Advisors. The other large player in the US market, Vanguard, will not take part in this new trend.
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Opinion PiecesGuest viewpoint: Green bonds require better coordination for real impact
Worth approximately $128.3trn (€117trn), the global bond market could add billions to the global effort to reach the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs). Yet only a fraction of the market currently consists of green, social and sustainability (GSS) bonds, and of that very little is being issued in developing countries. In 2022, annual GSS bond issuances stood at under 10% of overall bonds and only 13% of them came from entities in developing countries, a number that dwindles to around 5% when excluding issuers from China.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from Australia: Retail funds lured by private markets
Australia’s retail funds are trying to navigate the unfamiliar terrain of private markets as they seek to lift their performance.
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InterviewsOn the record: Doubling down on debt
Pension funds are focusing on both listed fixed income and private credit
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FeaturesDigital health revolution ramps up
The world is at the beginning of a digital health revolution. This has been accelerated by the COVID pandemic that forced radical shifts in doctor/patient interactions, and supercharged by the emergence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT that brought generative artificial intelligence (AI) to the forefront and pulled the potential of AI in healthcare into the limelight.
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Opinion PiecesUK venture capital: spinning out for success
Academic research produces excellent technology and medical firms, but the funding is not always available to take things further
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FeaturesAustria’s politicians are too timid to make decisions, says VBV’s Schiendl
Austrian institutional investors believe that both national and European Union politics are impeding the evolution of the occupational pensions market.
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FeaturesFixed income, rates & currency: US debt crisis averted – what next?
The US debt ceiling crisis was resolved in June, avoiding potentially major fireworks, with a suspension of the limit until early 2025. This ensures that the next time the politicians have to fight about it will be after the November 2024 presidential election. Although markets were relieved at the temporary resolution, the process of rebuilding the very depleted Treasury cash balances – with some huge bill auctions planned – will drain significant liquidity from the system, which could put pressure on the rates market.
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FeaturesAhead of the curve: Is growth back or is it a trap?
It is likely you have heard about ‘value traps’. They are low-multiple companies that are priced at an ever expanding discount to the market and structurally underperform as fundamentals weaken due to new competition and, in extreme scenarios, may even face obsolescence.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator: July 2023
The war in Ukraine is starting to look like a stalemate. This would be in Russia’s favour. Delivery to Ukraine of more of the tanks promised or fighters to contest Russian air control might lead to a breakthrough, but is unlikely to happen in the summer. In the US, Trump looks like a leading but weak candidate for the Republicans, even against a Democrat as unpopular as Biden. Legal pushbacks against the fight to prevent permanent climate change, notably in Texas, have the potential to cause a trade war with the EU. They illustrate how European and North American values are slowly drifting apart.
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FeaturesQontigo Riskwatch – July 2023
*Data as of 31 May 2023. Forecast risk estimate for each index measured by the respective US, World and Emerging Markets Qontigo model variants
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