July 2023

Houston Police Officers reports 7% return for fiscal year

Houston Police Officers' Pension System posted a preliminary net return of 7% for the fiscal year ended June 30. The $7.1 billion pension fund's return fell short of the benchmark return of 7.3% for the period, according to an investment update on its website. Annualized returns for the three, five and 10 years ended June 30 were not provided. The pension fund had posted a net loss of 1.3% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022. The latest fiscal year's improvement over...

Public Pension Funds Continue to Boost Alts Allocations in Search of Higher Returns

Public pension funds have more money in alternative investments than at any point in history, according to a report from the Equable Institute, which warns that “pension funds are addicted to risk.” The nonprofit organization’s State of Pensions 2023 report identified that the risk profiles of U.S. state and local pension funds have changed significantly in recent years, with pension fund alts allocations ballooning to more than $1.6 trillion in 2022 from approximately $100 billion in 2001. Although the authors of the Equable...

UK. Pensions transfer scams on the increase

Between April and June, 1685 pension scam assessments were completed using helpandadvice.co.uk's MoneyHelper flagged scam predictor tool. A quarter of those approached were asked to make a quick decision on whether to transfer, up significantly from 15 per cent in the previous quarter. The average scam likelihood score was 23 per cent, meaning that of the 1685 people that completed the assessment, almost a quarter of cases had associated red flags, a red flag means further investigation is needed. Having tracked the data for over...

Over half of people in Hong Kong expect to Work after Retirement, with One-Third citing Lack of Money

Reasons vary among the different generations, households, and genders – from family obligations, desired lifestyles, and financial status, reflecting the diverse nature of people’s thinking about retirement. The findings are part of Manulife Investment Management's Diverse Asia retirement series, which looks at the challenges and opportunities facing Asia’s ageing populations and how they are woven into the demographic profiles and socioeconomic foundations in the region. For Gen Z, Gen X and Baby boomers, their primary reasons for working after retirement are for their...

Wall Street’s hottest ticket is these Australian funds

Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman has been tapping his Australian roots to access one of the world’s fastest-growing corners of global capital. The bank’s Melbourne-born boss is one of a string of executives from Wall Street and beyond doing more business with the largest players in Australia’s $3.5 trillion superannuation sector. The big attraction: inflows of more than $1 billion a week that need to find an investment destination. As the guardians of the country’s retirement savings outgrow their own backyard, they’re partnering...

Pillar III pension funds inhibited by restrictive deductibility and double taxation in Romania

The weighted rate of return for all medium-risk voluntary funds (Pillar III) was only 4% compared to 5.5% for the mandatory funds (Pillar II), calculated by the financial supervision authority ASF at the end of June. The differential in favour of Pillar II was constant at 1.5pp over the past seven months and 3.9pp in the three months before that. The more intuitive annual increase of the value of the fund unit shows a similar pattern and wider discrepancy: 8.9%-10.9%...

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to seed more startups

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Canada’s largest pension fund, will seed more startup hedge funds this year as part of a plan to diversify its investments, according to a report by the Financial Post. The CPPIB, which manages $570 billion in assets, will spread funding among more firms as part of its emerging manager programme by reducing the starting amount they invest with each fund. Each will receive amounts starting from US$50 million, down from US$100 million, a person...

Most South Africans don’t have enough for retirement

Deloitte’s South African Investment Management Outlook for 2023 recently revealed that the country’s savings rate sits at only 0,5% and is below that of most emerging market peers. Equally concerning was a report from Genesis Analytics in partnership with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) that showed that 90% of South African retirees cannot maintain the same standard of living prior to retirement. This means that many will most likely need to work even after retirement. Add to this the fact...

UK. Insurance and pensions investment changes are positive steps

The refresh of the Solvency II rules will make certain assets more attractive to insurers. This includes infrastructure assets in their construction phase and higher risk assets common in “greenfield” projects that typically bear high technological and development risks. The research outlines the opportunities and potential implementation challenges of broadening the matching adjustment (MA) asset eligibility criteria. Firms will need to focus on key aspects of risk management to protect policyholder security, such as maintenance of the matching between asset...

US. Many Gen-Xers have zero retirement funds. What can we do to address America’s retirement crisis?

Gen-Xers, those born between 1965 and 1980, are falling behind when it comes to saving for retirement. The typical household holds only $40,000 in retirement savings, according to a new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security. The issue is exacerbated when you break down savings by income level and race. The bottom half of earners only have a few thousand in savings, while 40% of Gen-Xers have retirement savings accounts with zero balances. The report explained that Gen-Xers have...