By Pensions Regulator, OMB Research This report summarises results from The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR’s) annualn survey of trust-based occupational defined contribution (DC) pension schemes1, carried out between January and March 2020. The survey was conducted by OMB Research, an independent market research agency, on behalf of TPR. Get the book here
Britain's pensions regulator will consider enforcement action against pension schemes who do not make mandatory climate risk disclosures, it said on Wednesday. Read also Climate change worse than pandemic: UK regulator The Pensions Regulator said it was calling on scheme trustees to protect pensions savers from climate risk, ahead of proposed regulations requiring trustees of larger schemes to keep track of their climate change exposure. Read also UK. Pension communications ‘failing to engage’ more women than men “Where we do not see schemes...
Mercer has targeted net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 for UK, European and Asian clients with discretionary portfolios and the majority of its multi-client, multi asset funds domiciled in Ireland. The company said this represented a combined total of £31.5bn in assets under management as of 31 December 2020, adding that it would seek to achieve its net-zero goal by reducing portfolio relative carbon emissions by at least 45 per cent from 2019 baseline levels by 2030. Following the creation of a...
An unnamed Swiss pension fund is looking for a global equity solution aligned with EU climate benchmark requirements for a $500m (€423m) mandate, according to a new search on IPE Quest. The fund said it is looking to decarbonise its global passive equity exposure with a rule-based carbon and ESG-optimised solution. According to search QN-2686, the solution should match the EU Climate Transition Benchmark (CTB) requirements. The investor specified that it wants minimal regional, sector and style deviation from the index,...
Scores of U.S. fund managers are being forced to comply with sweeping new European rules on climate and other sustainable-finance issues, requiring them to disclose the potential harm their investments could do to the environment and society. Fund companies including Vanguard Group, BlackRock Inc. and State Street Corp. that sell investment products in the European Union come under the new rules that took effect this month, though details are still being finalized. “There are many issues to be resolved, it is...
Investment consultants around the globe are asking their pension fund clients to think carefully about two very real concerns that have emerged in passive investing: ESG-related and concentration risks. Some pension fund clients have heeded their advice, reconsidering whether they should be implementing some kind of ESG tilt to their benchmarks and in other cases, looking to take portions of the allocation to an active manager instead. "We are … having exactly these conversations: How much of this risk are people...
By David Weeks, M. Nicolas J. Firzli This second of a series of seven papers co-authored by M. Nicolas J. Firzli and David Weeks looks at the notions of private markets – PE, VC, private debt and infrastructure – and the "quest for yields" in a low interest rates environment, which where discussed at two recent global conferences organised by the G7 Pensions Summit (G7 P7) and the Singapore Economic Forum (SEF). ESG, impact investing, renewable energy and the notion of...
Pension funds and insurance companies snatched up the largest share of green bonds (14.3%) issued by the Italian government among the investors with a long-term investment horizon, the Finance Ministry said in a note. Central banks and government institutions bought the remaining 10% of the total 24.3% of the green bonds allocated to long-term financial investors, it added. Hedge funds secured 3.6%, while fund managers acquired 53.1% of the total green bonds issued, with banks underwriting 18.5%. A total of 530 investors...
By Daniela Laurel Last week, we began with an investigation of how different geographies are engaged in Responsible Investment and Sustainable Finance practice. We kicked off with Europe and North America and today we continue with this series, focusing on Latin America before moving on to Africa and then ending with Asia Pacific. Reiterating an earlier caveat, we cannot generalize how an entire nation or population behaves and simply try our best to spot some cultural trends that stand out...
By Sarah Rundell Investors from Schroders, Trillium and PensionDanmark discuss how a changing regulatory picture and the economics of sustainable investment are coming together to create a tipping point in ESG, but they warn their peers to look beyond the label to what is on the inside. In keeping with being one of the first investors in wind energy years ago, Denmark’s PensionDanmark was also an original investor in the country’s state of the art energy island in the North Sea....
