Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 58
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FeaturesJoseph Mariathasan: India’s NPS reaches $100bn in assets
India’s state-run voluntary defined contribution New Pension Scheme (NPS) has reached a milestone of $100bn (€88bn) in assets and is likely to double in size every five years, according to renowned economist Ajay Shah. There are many lessons to be learnt from the success of the NPS, particularly for developing countries seeking to create pension safety nets for their populations from scratch.
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FeaturesAccounting: DB sponsors at a crossroads
If a decade ago the talk was of defined-benefit (DB) scheme sponsors locked in an infernal struggle against the dizzying gravity of spiralling accounting deficits, thoughts now are turning to the end game.
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FeaturesPerspective – Liability-driven investing: DIY LDI
A multi-decade trend of falling interest rates, the increased complexity of financial markets and the growing burden of regulation have conspired to turn pension provision into an extremely sophisticated activity. This is especially true for defined benefit pension funds, which may be facing a gradual decline in number, but remain a key source of retirement income.
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Opinion PiecesGuest Viewpoint – Nicholas Benes: The stock exchange of the future
In 2060, the world may look back at decades of convulsive changes in equity markets, guided by optimism that civilisation might just make it. People might remember that at some point during the second decade of the 21st century the earth suddenly exceeded 1.5°C of warming over pre-industrial times, sparking mass protests and turbocharging activism, focusing even more on ESG themes and ‘shareholder democracy’. Global movements will have been propelled by strange weather phenomena and the participation of young people, who had gained deeper understanding of equity markets than ever before.
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Opinion Pieces‘Levelling up’ white paper targets LGPS funds to support local areas
The UK government’s long-awaited ‘Levelling Up the United Kingdom’ white paper, published last month, includes several bold missions to help achieve greater equality. One is to call on Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds to publish plans for increasing local investment.
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Book ReviewBooks – Demographics Unravelled: A broad and granular understanding of demographics
Amlan Roy’s contention in his new book Demographics Unravelled is that a wider and more holistic approach to demographics is necessary. An academic by background and a long-standing former head of global demographics and pensions research at Credit Suisse, Roy’s choice of focus in his book underlines his views.
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FeaturesBriefing: High yield off to a rough start to the year
High yield did not have a good start to the year. Rising inflation and a more hawkish central bank tone in the US and UK triggered panic selling in January. However, as the dust settles and bad news is priced in, the asset class looks more appealing than other fixed-income segments. Easy pickings may be gone, though, and opportunities will have to be selected carefully.
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FeaturesBriefing: Now is not the time to give up on emerging markets
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” This classic Al Pacino line has applied to many emerging market investors in recent years. Like Michael Corleone, drawn by the potential offered by bold business opportunities, they have accepted to take higher levels of risks in a quest to obtain better results. However, similarly to the family at the heart of The Godfather saga, the outcome of such bets has often caused a lot of pain.
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FeaturesStrategically speaking – WTW: Democratising private markets
WTW’s ill-fated merger with Aon, announced at the outset of the pandemic in early March 2020, would have shaken up the corporate insurance brokerage market. It would also have created an outsourced CIO (OCIO) giant to compete with Mercer in terms of delegated assets under management (AUM).
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Asset Class ReportsPortfolio Strategy – Inflation: A new regime
CIOs and asset allocators discuss the effect of inflation on portfolios
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FeaturesFixed income, rates, currencies: Inflation spotlight on central banks
Not often far from the action, central banks have been centre stage in 2022 as one after another in the developed markets reveal their hawkish intents. The speed and synchronicity with which they have shifted has been pretty remarkable, with only the Bank of Japan not yet joining other main central banks.
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FeaturesAhead of the curve – Late-stage growth: a growing priority in PE portfolios
With additional options to fund growth outside of an initial public offering (IPO), start-ups are staying private longer. The average age at which venture capital-backed companies go public has increased from about 4.5 years during the 1990s to about 6.5 years today.
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FeaturesQontigo Riskwatch – March 2022
* Data as of 31 January 2022. Forecast risk estimate for each index measured by the respective US, World and Emerging Markets Qontigo model variants
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator – March 2022
Political risk is back. Russian aggression towards Ukraine inserts considerable amounts of uncertainty. Asset owners will in general not suffer significant direct consequences for a well-diversified portfolio, but there are potential implications for energy prices that come at a time when inflation was already making a comeback and on top of unexpected military expenditure when budgets are already charged by COVID-19-related outlays
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Features
Case study – SPH: How to embed behavioural insights in managing a pension fund
In the Netherlands, pension reforms are slowly picking up steam. Long overdue and in many respects a sensible direction, pension boards can choose between variants that redistribute investment risk between individual participants and the collective pension scheme.
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Special ReportPensions regulation in the UK
Developments in the pensions landscape in the United Kingdom
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Country ReportCountry Report – Pensions in Ireland (February 2022)
Ireland’s new trustee code is bedding in following its publication last autumn. The code aligns Ireland with IORP II, with rules on governance, administration, controls, DB management and ‘fit and proper’ requirements.
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Special ReportSpecial Report – Pan-European Personal Pensions
From March, the European Commission’s vision of a simple, cross-border savings product becomes a reality with the launch of the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP). EU citizens will for the first time be able to channel savings into a long-term third-pillar product that is cost effective, simple and portable across borders.
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Asset Class ReportsPortfolio strategy – Hedge funds: macro bets on
Global macro funds should do better in the current market environment – but not all will thrive and investor due diligence will be key
