Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 89
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Country ReportSecond-pillar pensions: The virtuous circle that will not start
Italy’s second-pillar pension system is developing but the industry awaits more decisive policymaking
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FeaturesBriefing: New benchmark to reduce cost of FX transactions
Among the areas of focus for a pension fund looking to cut costs are the fees charged by its asset managers, usually as an annual percentage of assets under management, plus costs for other services. As part of a cost-cutting exercise, however, foreign exchange (FX) is often neglected. But as funds increasingly invest outside their home country, FX transactions are acquiring more significance because of the need to hedge foreign currency fluctuations. And these deals can carry hidden costs.
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FeaturesPrivate credit fundraising: A record year for private-debt funds
Record amounts of capital were raised by private-debt funds in 2020 but the outlook may be less strong in the short term
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Country ReportESG gains ground
Italian pension funds are increasingly making their investment choices with ESG factors in mind
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FeaturesESG & private markets: Crying out for standards
Growing awareness of ESG is fuelling pressure for definitive metrics to assess company performance
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InterviewsExit interview: Ivonne Forno
Ivonne Forno, former CEO of Laborfonds, reflects on her experience of building one of Italy’s most successful pension institutions
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FeaturesDigital transformation: Take advantage of the digital reset
Covid has accelerated the digital transformation across all industries. How has it contributed to new trends and opportunities in private debt and how can investors benefit?
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Opinion PiecesGovernance must be the embedded solution
Europe now has approaching two decades of experience with the investment outsourcing that is loosely called fiduciary management, or sometimes outsourced CIO (OCIO), to use the US terminology.
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Opinion PiecesESG: progress but still much road to travel
Good things are happening in the land of ESG. Aspects of the European Commission’s sustainable finance action plan regulation have certainly been frustrating, but the sustainable finance disclosure regulation (SFDR), for example, does look like it could end up having a beneficial effect, even though there are still problems associated with it and the effect is perhaps not the one that was envisaged for the SFDR.
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Opinion PiecesNotes from Switzerland: Work in progress
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce: now another referendum result in Switzerland is poised to obstruct changes designed for a long-term impact.
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Opinion PiecesSocial risks impact on employer covenant
The UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recent consultation – Consideration of social risks and opportunities by occupational pension schemes – seeks to assess how trustees understand ‘social’ factors and how they aim to integrate financially material social factors into investment and stewardship activities.
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FeaturesEuropean venture capitalists finally adopting ESG
Many would argue that venture capital (VC), at its core, has a positive impact on the world as it is driven fundamentally by the desire to solve society’s problems. But there is a contradiction between that driving mission, and the reality of the slow adoption of ESG into the consciousness and the investment processes of VCs and their assets.
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FeaturesLong term matters: It’s corporate tax, stupid
Bill Clinton used the slogan “It’s the economy, stupid” to help him win the 1992 US presidential election. The same now applies to corporate tax in 2021.
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Features
Accounting: The Friedman conundrum
The world, or rather capitalism, has come a long way since Milton Friedman’s 1970 New York Times opinion piece The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits. Corporations, he argued, have no responsibility beyond the duty they hold to shareholders.
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Features
Research: Stewardship is key to the ‘S’ pillar
Simon Klein and Amin Rajan show the reliance of social-related passive funds on equities
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FeaturesAhead of the curve - Green assets: An alternative to green bonds
Policy performance bonds, in which returns are linked to ESG outcomes, would be a positive alternative to green bonds
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InterviewsOn the record: Unlisted priorities
Two pension funds discuss how their strategies for non-listed investments are evolving
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InterviewsHow we run our money: Fondo Pensione Nazionale BCC CRA
Sergio Carfizzi (pictured), CEO of Italy’s Fondo Pensione Nazionale BCC CRA, tells Carlo Svaluto Moreolo about the fund’s ambitious alternative-investment programme
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FeaturesStrategically speaking: Lyxor & Amundi
Lyxor has made a mark over the 20-plus years of its existence, pioneering managed accounts for hedge funds, including the first dedicated institutional managed account platform, that it created for PGGM in 2010.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: Hybrid plans in focus
The move from defined benefit (DB) pension plans to defined contribution (DC) has been ongoing for years in the US, both in the private and public sector. But more recently many state and local governments have adopted hybrid designs.
