Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 52
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Special ReportOutlook: Good riddance to negative interest rates
The net effect of setting interest rates below zero is negative, and central banks may be wary of such policies in the future
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Special ReportFour challenges for asset managers
Leading figures respond to key questions on ● Investment strategy ● ESG
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Opinion PiecesPension funds and asset managers: Are you a Yamaha or a Steinway?
In the 1970s, Genichi Kawakami, president of Yamaha Corporation from 1950-77, wanted his pianos to rival those of Steinway.
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Opinion PiecesInvestors should require companies to tie executive pay to ESG targets
Stuart Kirk, global head of responsible investing at HSBC Asset Management, has been suspended for saying that investors need not worry about climate risk. Those among the company’s clients who are concerned with sustainability may be relieved that he has been suspended, but there remain questions about greenwashing at the company and within the whole asset management sector.
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Opinion PiecesDelay looms to Netherlands reform process
The Dutch government has vowed to finalise the country’s hotly debated switch to a pension system with defined-contribution variants by 1 January 2023.
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Opinion PiecesIlliquid assets could bring cost burden
Last month the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) closed its consultation on ‘Facilitating investment in illiquid assets’, which sought views on policy proposals and draft regulations designed to improve the accessibility of illiquid assets for defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.
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Opinion PiecesAustralia: Political risk on the agenda for super funds
Australia’s cash-rich super funds allocate more to international equities than to their domestic counterparts. International equities are the largest single allocation.
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Opinion PiecesUS: Fidelity’s retirement account crypto move raises concerns
Even six months ago it looked like crypto investing was not going to become mainstream any time soon in 401(k) plans – and since then Bitcoin has halved in value. But the market’s sentiment and trend are changing very quickly. So much so that Fidelity Investments has now become the first major retirement-plan provider to allow investors to add a Bitcoin account to their 401(k). The move was announced in late April.
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FeaturesAccounting: IASB risks project duplication over sustainability
Looking back, the warning signs were clear. “The trustees of the IFRS Foundation are considering whether [we] should play a role in the development of sustainability reporting standards,” the March 2021 exposure draft explains.
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FeaturesResearch: beyond the net-zero hype
The exact path to a net zero world is unknown but the direction of travel is clear, argues Amin Rajan
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Opinion PiecesFiduciary managers must do better on ESG transparency
What sets one fiduciary manager apart from another? These days, it is increasingly hard to tell between the leaders. As a fiduciary manager myself, this view may seem counterintuitive but it seems to me that this part of the investment world is getting less distinct in its capabilities, resources and even its messaging.
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InterviewsOpenbare Apothekers Pension Fund: Preparing for change
Ronald Heijn and Maarten Thomassen of the Netherland’s Pensioenfonds Openbare Apothekers tell Tjibbe Hoekstra about the impact of the Dutch pension reform on their fund
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InterviewsStrategically speaking interview: Edwin Conway, BlackRock Alternative Investors
Many asset owners focus on the return streams available from private markets investments and the diversification effect of private equity, debt or any of the other flavours available in this sector of the market.
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Asset Class ReportsQuant managers: back with new weapons
As investors show renewed interest in value strategies, quant managers look for better uses of alternative data
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Asset Class Reports
Quant managers: Quoniam’s Nigel Cresswell
Liam Kennedy spoke to Quoniam Asset Management’s CEO about the challenges and opportunities faced by a quant boutique
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FeaturesAhead of the curve: tie executive pay to climate targets
AllianzGI and Cevian Capital take very different approaches to how we manage equity portfolios, but we are both long-term and active owners of companies. Following a series of conversations about how to best implement ESG criteria in our portfolios, we have found a common perspective.
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FeaturesAI could help triple Europe’s private debt market
Investors seeking higher yield have driven the growth of the private debt market. European private debt, though still much smaller than the US market, has also been growing rapidly. European lenders managed assets of $350bn as of June last year, according to Preqin, in a total market of $1.19trn. This is more than double the level in December 2016.
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FeaturesUK DB schemes in a risk transfer sweet spot
Pension funds are in a good position for buyouts, but is there enough capacity in the market and will DB superfunds provide a genuine alternative?
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FeaturesEmissions reporting: taking stock of indirect emissions in Scope 3
Disclosure proposals by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March could guide the regulatory searchlight beyond companies’ direct and indirect C02 emissions (Scope 1 and 2) and towards upstream and downstream (Scope 3) emissions.
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FeaturesYen’s swift dive surprises market
For several decades, the Japanese yen has not been in the limelight too often. However, earlier this year it became headline news as the currency began to depreciate rapidly against the US dollar. Although investors were not overly surprised that the yen would weaken, the speed of its decline was certainly startling. Over the course of about 15 months, between the start of 2021 to early April 2022, the yen has lost about 25% of its value against the dollar, with nearly half the move occurring in that final month.
