January 2021

22Jan

Canadian pension funds hunt for pandemic real estate bargains

Canadian pension funds are seeking to boost their real estate investments, betting the slumping property market will recover as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes and office workers and city dwellers return to downtown properties. Canadian pension funds held $278.7 billion in property assets in 2019, up 4% from 2018, according to the Pension Investment Association of Canada, making them the country’s largest real estate owners. In a world of slower economic growth, very low interest rates, volatility in equity markets,...

January 22, 2021
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21Jan

The Benefit of Diversified Guaranteed Income for Retirees: Combining Immediate Fixed and Immediate Variable Annuities

By David Blanchett This paper explores the potential benefits of developing a retirement income that considers both immediate fixed annuities (IFA) and immediate variable annuities (IVA) using a stochastic utility model combined with a scenario framework. Optimal annuity allocations vary considerably across household type, but certainty equivalent retirement income increases by 20 percent, on average, when incorporating annuities. Total annuity allocations increase when both IFAs and IVAs are considered, and retirees realize only approximately two-thirds of the benefits of...

January 21, 2021
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21Jan

Nordic pension giant picks Nordea to run $240m EM strategy

Finnish pension insurance giant Varma has selected Nordea to run ESG-focused $240m emerging markets equity mandate. Juliana Hansveden, portfolio manager of Nordea’s Emerging Stars Equity strategy, said better run companies are more likely to succeed over the long term, which means it is crucial to properly understand and analyse ESG risks. ‘Emerging markets continue to offer a lot of opportunities, and we are looking forward to delivering long-term sustainable performance to Varma and its stakeholders,’ she added. Varma is...

January 21, 2021
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13Jan

Canada Pension Plan Joins BTG in Bid for Brazil Telecom Business

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is joining a fund managed by Banco BTG Pactual SA to make a binding offer for the fiber unit of Brazilian telecom carrier Oi SA, according to people familiar with the matter. Read also Pensions and investments could be tapped for £800m in UK’s dormant assets The bid is expected Jan. 22, along with two other binding offers, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Highline do...

January 13, 2021
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12Jan

Pensions and investments could be tapped for £800m in UK’s dormant assets

Up to £800m in pensions and investments assets could be unlocked following a major expansion of the UK's ‘Dormant Assets Scheme', the government announced this morning. Assets held via vehicles including savings endowments, investment bonds and income drawdown will be made available for a range of UK projects through the scheme. According to governement data, over £745m has already been distributed to a variety of causes using dormant assets held in banks and building societies. A crucial change for...

January 12, 2021
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11Jan

Infrastructure investing is no pension fund free ride (In response to “pension funds need a radical rethink”)

By Bernard H. Casey Robin Harding argues that “pension funds need a radical rethink” (Opinion, January 6). But remember investing in infrastructure is nothing new for pension funds. I recall being at an event at the London School of Economics in September 2011 where Nick Clegg, then the deputy prime minister, proposed this as a way to get the economy moving without the need for additional public expenditure. I raised the example of Australian and Canadian funds with him —...

January 11, 2021
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11Jan

UK. Nest plans bold expansion into private markets

Nest, one of the UK’s largest workplace pension schemes with 10m members, is planning an aggressive push into private markets which could “comfortably” exceed a fifth of its entire £13bn investment portfolio. Nest has about 9 per cent in private markets, including 6 per cent in private credit, with the remainder in direct commercial real estate. By the first quarter of next year, it aims to raise its private market holdings to about 15 per cent by expanding its...

January 11, 2021
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08Jan

Canada. Ontario students push teachers to pressure pension fund to divest from fossil fuels

An environmental coalition is appealing to Ontario teachers to pressure their pension fund to divest from companies that develop or transport fossil fuel products. In a four minute YouTube video, a group of students from across Ontario read a letter to their teachers, asking them to push the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to stop investing their retirement savings in oil, gas, coal, and pipeline companies. The coalition — which consists of activist groups Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health,...

January 8, 2021
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08Jan

UK. ‘We didn’t want our pensions invested in anything that was causing harm’

Roy and Becky Francomb from East Sussex recently decided they wanted to move their bank accounts to somewhere more ethical. Photograph: Roy Francomb Lots of people have started 2021 with the aim of making green lifestyle changes such as going vegan or giving up flying. But arguably the most powerful environmental changes you can make as an individual involve your finances, whether it’s the cash in your current account or the money you are saving for retirement. Research issued this week by...

January 8, 2021
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04Jan

Why the U.S. needs a national climate investment fund

In recent weeks, we have witnessed the power of innovation to solve catastrophic problems. Most notably, we have seen the extraordinary human accomplishment of delivering vaccines within a year to counter the novel coronavirus, COVID-19—an achievement that was accelerated by the U.S. government’s Project Warp Speed.  What many people may be less aware of is that across America and other global innovation centers, companies are striving to harness that same power to tackle climate change. Businesses of all sizes are toiling away...

January 4, 2021
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