July 2021
27Jul

China pensions starved of alternatives to stabilise returns

By Twinkle Zhou Experts warn that Beijing must take even speedier action to help its rapidly aging population save enough for retirement. In particular, the country’s regulators need to diversify the range of assets available for local pension funds into more alternative assets, to help them ensure more consistently high annual investment returns. Read also China to allow tax deductions for care of small children to help boost births Pension experts say the government and regulators do not lack for areas they...

July 27, 2021
News, Op-Ed, Slider, , ,
Read more...
27Jul

Japan´s EPSF plots to build a financial system that supports sustainability

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Japan’s aims for carbon neutrality and substantially zero CO2 emissions by 2050, in his October 2020 policy speech. He also announced at the climate change summit held in April 2021 that Japan aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 46% in FY2030 from its FY2013 levels. In order to achieve these types of environmental goals, many major countries consider that large scale of private funds would be required for the transition towards such new...

July 27, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
26Jul

Ghana. GSE boss asks pension funds to boost equity holdings

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), which is experiencing a bull market this year, provides enormous opportunities for pension funds to invest and realise good returns, Ekow Afedzie, Managing Director of the exchange, has said. Read also Ghana. Minister for Employment initiates mass pension enrolment programme Addressing industry players during a workshop under the theme “Maximising Investment Returns Using the Ghana Stock Exchange”, Mr. Afedzi said “though pension fund investments in fixed-income securities continue to increase, the same cannot be said of...

July 26, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
22Jul

India. Want to give more options to pension funds, so opening up IPO investments: PFRDA chairman

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) will soon allow pension fund managers (PFMs) to invest in initial public offerings (IPOs), follow on public offers (FPOs) and offer for sale (OFS). This would mean that PFMs could use their investment corpus to invest into upcoming IPOs including the Rs 16,000 crore initial public offering of Paytm. Speaking to Moneycontrol, Supratim Bandyopadhyay, Chairman, PFRDA said these will allow PFMs to have a wider range of investment options. "This will broaden the PFMs investment...

July 22, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
21Jul

Austrian sustainable funds see record rise in AUM to €22.4bn

Assets under management (AUM) for Austrian sustainability-driven investment funds rose by 29% to €22.4bn in the first half of this year, up from €17.3bn in 2020, according to figures published last week by the Vienna-based investment companies association VÖIG. The number of sustainable funds on the market grew from 96 in 2020 to 106 in the first half of this year, figures show. Last year the Fachverband der Pensionskassen, Austria’s occupational pension fund association, floated the idea of a “green supplementary...

July 21, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
16Jul

Is there really an ESG bubble?

Environmental, social and governance-focused investment is on the upswing like no other investment trend. In the first half of 2021, of 80 exchange-traded funds and mutual fund launches in the UK, 37 were ESG vehicles. Of these, 19 were equity funds, 16 mixed assets, and one each for bond and alternatives (chart 1). Bonds showed rather better last year with 12 launches, but whatever the year, equity launches dominate. This compares with 207 launches in 2020, of which 59 were ESG,...

July 16, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
16Jul

UK. Pension tax change proposals branded ‘tragic’ and ‘crazy’

On the go: Rumours that the Treasury is planning to raid pensions have been branded “tragic” and “crazy” by speakers at a Hymans Robertson webinar, who warned that any reforms harming incentives to save could undo the work put in to boost retirement standards. Pensions Expert reported in June on the rumours that Treasury officials have drawn up a list of three reforms to the way pension contributions are taxed, with the aim being to find the money to pay...

July 16, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
16Jul

How geopolitics impact global public investors

In the world of institutional investing, geopolitical risk has emerged as a pressing concern. While some asset owners contend that they are fully capable of analysing and managing such risk, they appear to be in the minority. Many public investors are still largely unprepared, lacking proper analytical frameworks and relevant expertise to tackle geopolitics in a structured and rigorous way. However, there is a relatively simple and straightforward solution to this: asset owners can apply some of the same...

July 16, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
15Jul

BlackRock Closes In on the Once Unthinkable, $10 Trillion in Assets

BlackRock Inc.’s second-quarter profit rose 14% on new money coming into the giant asset manager, a sign that investors are becoming more confident about an economic recovery. Read also He runs the worst-funded public pension in the country. Here’s his ‘good news’ story The company posted a quarterly profit of $1.378 billion or $8.92 a share, up from $1.214 billion or $7.85 a share a year earlier. Its revenue grew 32% to $4.82 billion. Read also Transferring A Business Following Insolvency In...

July 15, 2021
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
14Jul

Green pension 21x more effective than common climate change efforts

UK savers have been urged to make their pension green after research revealed that this was a “staggering” 21 times more effective at cutting carbon footprints than stopping flying, becoming a vegetarian and moving to a renewable energy provider combined. Read also Is there really an ESG bubble? The analysis, from Make My Money Matter (MMMM), Aviva, and Route2, found that those with an average sized pension pot of £30,000 who moved from a traditional fund to a sustainable option can...

July 14, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...