May 2021
18May

UK pension fund USS buys half of 4-GW solar platform in Spain

UK private pension fund, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), has made a deal to acquire a 50% stake in Spain-based renewables platform Bruc Energy, it was announced on Monday. Bruc Energy operates as an investment vehicle of Spanish fund manager Bruc Management and is focused on solar photovoltaic (PV) assets in Spain and Portugal. The vehicle is co-owned by Canadian pension fund OPTrust and Juan Bejar, Spanish businessman and chairman of Bruc Management. USS has invested EUR 225 million (USD 273m)...

May 18, 2021
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14May

NFTs And Your Retirement Account

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been a hot asset class in 2021. Through the end of March, the combined market cap of major NFT projects was up 1,785%, year to date. As the name suggests, a non-fungible asset is meant to be a unique asset that is non-fungible. This means an NFT cannot be interchanged with other assets of the same type. This is what is particularly exciting about them for many investors. Each NFT is made up of information that...

May 14, 2021
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13May

Have scale effects on cost margins of pension fund investment portfolios disappeared?

By Jacob Antoon Bikker, Jeroen Meringa Investment costs of pension funds are crucial for their returns. Consolidation in the pension fund market proceeds continuously, often with cost savings as the main argument. Unused economies of scale in the pension fund investment costs, however, have declined over the years to values close to zero, except for the very small pension funds. This paper investigates investment economies of scale in the Netherlands and pays special attention to the non-linear relationship between investment...

May 13, 2021
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06May

Germany hatches plan to attract green investment capital

The German government is planning a new green financing strategy to steer capital towards environmental projects and developing Germany into a leading hub for sustainable finance, plans seen by Reuters show. The so-called Sustainable Finance Strategy plan lists 26 individual measures and is due to be adopted by the cabinet on Wednesday with a view to mobilising investment for climate protection projects. "The federal government wants to develop Germany into a leading location for sustainable finance," states the plan, which is...

May 6, 2021
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04May

Union Demands CPPIB Ditch Brazil Water Privatization Involvement

Canada’s largest union is demanding that the $387.1 billion Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) abandon its investment in a private water and sewage treatment service provider in Brazil. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said CPPIB is taking part in a “risky” sell-off of public water and sewage infrastructure being led by controversial President Jair Bolsonaro. “The involvement of the CPPIB in support of Bolsonaro’s privatization program would serve to legitimize his disregard for the needs of the...

May 4, 2021
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03May

How One of Canada’s Largest Pension Funds Is Incorporating ESG in Its Portfolio

As allocators and fund managers alike scramble to incorporate diversity and climate change into their strategies, one of Canada’s largest asset owners has released its latest report on how, exactly, a C$365.5 billion pension fund does it. The Stewardship Report, released Wednesday by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (known colloquially as CPDQ), details the fund’s 2020 efforts toward sustainability and diversity. In the report, CPDQ said it is tying employees’ variable compensation to the achievement of certain climate targets...

May 3, 2021
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03May

Japan. GPIF looks to study private equity replication

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund may be mulling changes to an alternatives investment program that's been cautiously deliberate until now. On April 20, the ¥177.7 trillion ($1.63 trillion) Tokyo-based giant made two separate announcements speaking to potential changes: the first was a callout for information from managers of domestic real estate, a sign GPIF could be moving beyond the fund-of-funds platforms it's focused on in recent years to directly hire general partners; the second was a paper exploring ways to...

May 3, 2021
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April 2021
29Apr

US. Wall Street Bets Bigger on ESG as Sustainability Takes Hold

The greed-is-good ’80s power brokers are long gone, replaced by a generation of investors that at least present themselves as kinder, gentler and more environmentally and socially conscious. Read also NY State Pension Commits to $400 Million in Sustainable Investments But the almighty dollar — maybe a little less than omnipotent now — is still the tool of the trade on Wall Street and the big money players are using their influence to steer companies to a better future with a...

April 29, 2021
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29Apr

Biggest Pension Fund in Denmark Takes a Hit on Its Bond Exposure

Denmark’s biggest pension fund, ATP, lost almost $200 million on its investment portfolio after its exposure to bond markets backfired. “ATP’s current investment strategy is relatively heavily exposed to interest rates, and this makes it sensitive to the rising interest rates that we saw in the first quarter,” Chief Executive Officer Bo Foged said in a statement. The fund, which oversees about $150 billion in assets, is trying to get parliamentary approval to shift into riskier corners of the market after the government...

April 29, 2021
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27Apr

NY State Pension Commits to $400 Million in Sustainable Investments

The $247.7 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund has committed approximately $400 million to two funds as part of its Sustainable Investments and Climate Solutions (SICS) Program. The commitments are part of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s climate action plan to lower investment risks from climate change and help shift the pension fund to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions within the next 20 years. “While climate change poses investment risks, it also creates opportunities for the state pension fund to...

April 27, 2021
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