May 2020
06May

What are the implications for pension funds coming out of coronavirus crisis?

By Janet Rabovsky Last August, I wrote about whether central banks were creating a financial bubble with their coordinated easing programs intended to spur economic growth and/or lift inflation. In January 2020, I wrote about the end of the economic cycle, the potential for a recession and what that might mean for positioning an investment portfolio. Little did I know, when I wrote these articles, that we would be experiencing further central bank action as a result of COVID-19,...

May 6, 2020
News, OP Ed, Slider, , , , ,
Read more...
06May

Ara Partners closes USD-400m industrial decarbonisation fund

Private equity firm Ara Partners has achieved a USD-400-million (EUR 369.5m) close for its debut fund, Ara Fund I LP, which was created to support the decarbonisation of the industrial economy through investments in North America and Europe. Capital commitments came from various institutional investors in North America, Europe and Asia, including public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations and family offices. "We seek near-term, tangible carbon reductions and profitable growth through rapid adoption of sustainable industrial products and...

May 6, 2020
News, Slider,
Read more...
05May

COVID-19 Is Exposing the Holes in Latin America’s Safety Nets

Governments around the world need to get cash into the pockets of families who lost their income due to the coronavirus, and Latin America might seem well-equipped for the task. The region helped pioneer massive cash transfer programs for low-income families over the past three decades, with notable success in Brazil, Mexico and elsewhere. But the pandemic has instead exposed existing vulnerabilities in Latin America’s social safety net. If policymakers aren’t careful, it could create new ones as well....

May 5, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
05May

White House Makes Appointments That Could Impact Pension Fund Decision to Invest in China

The White House on Monday named three nominees to sit on a board that oversees federal employee pension funds, a move that could see the reversal of a decision to allow one of the funds to invest in Chinese companies under scrutiny from Washington. If confirmed by the Senate, the three individuals would sit on the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) which administers the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a retirement savings fund similar to a 401(k) for federal...

May 5, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
05May

Nigeria. PenCom dissolves interim management committee for First Guarantee Pension, appoints new board

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has dissolved the interim management committee of First Guarantee Pension Limited. The committee was set up in August 12, 2011 to handle the affairs of the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), as part of the commission’s intervention pending the resolution of legal disputes. The intervention was also based on findings of routine and especial examinations carried out by the pension regulator. In a public statement that was released on Monday, PenCom announced that...

May 5, 2020
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
05May

Should UK millennials be worried about their retirement savings over the coronavirus crisis?

Experts weigh up whether job losses and stock market volatility from the coronavirus crisis has caused lasting damage to the retirement savings of British millennials. Research has shown young workers are among the most vulnerable to job losses or a reduction in working hours as a result of the financial strain of the Covid-19 outbreak. Jamie Smith, financial advisor at advice firm Foster Denovo, highlighted that in these circumstances a person is less likely to continue to save...

May 5, 2020
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
04May

Top US pension plans eye private credit.

Some of America’s largest pension funds are looking to pour money into private credit to capitalise on dislocations across the market stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Both the $227bn California State Teachers Retirement System (Calstrs) and the $215bn New York State Common Retirement Fund have identified private credit as an opportunity for investors that have enough liquidity to lend to struggling companies. Meanwhile, data from FT Specialist publication MandateWire shows that numerous other public funds in the US are...

May 4, 2020
News, ,
Read more...
04May

Jamaica. The COVID-19 response: Beyond the crisis

The Government’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force very much duplicates the existing National Partnership Council that had been established to drive Jamaica’s economic development long before the advent of the global pandemic. The recovery process will be long and arduous, but the first order of business for Jamaica is to keep the wheels of industry turning, which is the initial focus, I believe, of the task force. Beyond that, the groundwork for a full and sustained recovery has to...

May 4, 2020
News, , ,
Read more...
04May

Australia. How financial planning around super will likely change

Financial planning around superannuation may be forced to change as a result of the impact of COVID-19 and the efforts of superannuation funds to increase their cash holdings, according to actuarial research house, Rice Warner. It said superannuation funds are likely to keep high levels of cash well into the future for fear of a repeat of the Government’s COVID-19 hardship early release regime. In an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on superannuation funds, Rice Warner has pointed...

May 4, 2020
News, ,
Read more...
04May

Top US pension plans eye private credit.

Some of America’s largest pension funds are looking to pour money into private credit to capitalise on dislocations across the market stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Both the $227bn California State Teachers Retirement System (Calstrs) and the $215bn New York State Common Retirement Fund have identified private credit as an opportunity for investors that have enough liquidity to lend to struggling companies. Meanwhile, data from FT Specialist publication MandateWire shows that numerous other public funds in the US are also looking...

May 4, 2020
News, Slider
Read more...