April 2021
27Apr

UK. MSP pension fund under fire for investing almost £1m in fossil fuels

Analysis of the Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme by Friends of the Earth Scotland based on a freedom of information request shows that the estimated fossil fuel investment is £923,585 - around £7,160 for each of the 129 MSPs. With Glasgow due to host the Cop26 UN climate conference later this year environmental campaigners are calling on local authorities to divest from fossil fuels. The Scottish Parliament’s pension fund was found to have an estimated £733,000 stake in BHP, a major coal,...

April 27, 2021
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23Apr

ESG, Green Growth and Employee Capitalism: G7 Roadmap for the Fifth Industrial Revolution

By M. Nicolas J. Firzli, David Weeks, Nick Sherry This paper co-authored & edited jointly by M. Nicolas J. Firzli, David Weeks and the Hon. Nicholas Sherry looks at the twin notions of asset ownership and EESG-driven investment in relation to the emerging financial policy agenda of the 47th G7 Summit (Carbis Bay Summit) from the perspective of G7 and Australian pension investors and board members (trustees), which were discussed notably at two recent global conferences organised by the Singapore...

April 23, 2021
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23Apr

2021 Retirement Confidence Survey

By EBRI Greenwald Research The RCS is the longest-running survey of its kind, measuring worker and retiree confidence about retirement, and is conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research. The 2021 survey of 3,017 Americans was conducted online January 5 through January 25, 2021. All respondents were ages 25 or older. The survey included 1,507 workers and 1,510 retirees — which includes an oversample of roughly 500 completed surveys among Black Americans (252 workers and 253 retirees)...

April 23, 2021
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23Apr

A $120 Billion Danish Pension Manager Loses Faith in Bonds

In one of the world’s best-run pension markets, the biggest commercial manager says it’s time to dump bonds. “The switch out of fixed income into broader equities, whether it’s listed or unlisted, is what we recommend and what we are positioned for,” Kasper Lorenzen, chief investment officer at Copenhagen-based PFA, said in an interview. Back when most asset managers were being taught the trade, “we learned that government bonds are the safe assets, the risk-free asset,” he said. “Well, let’s see...

April 23, 2021
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21Apr

Canada. CDPQ Real Estate arm ties staff pay to ESG goals in zero emissions push

Ivanhoe Cambridge, the real estate arm of Canada's second-largest pension fund, has tied employee and executive remuneration to hitting environmental targets as it commits to cut net carbon emissions to zero by 2040, its CEO said on Tuesday. Chief Executive Officer Nathalie Palladitcheff said Ivanhoe, which owns 1,100 properties globally, will add C$6 billion ($4.8 billion) in low carbon investments and, as an interim target, reduce carbon intensity by 35% by 2025. Since January, employee pay at Ivanhoe, including all its...

April 21, 2021
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20Apr

A Fintech Revolution: How The Pandemic Accelerated The Adoption Of Digital Solutions

I don't know about you, but I haven't used the cash in my wallet since the onset of the lockdowns in March 2020. And I don't miss it at all. I've found that the digital financial life is fast, safe and provides easy ways to track. Digital, mobile and social channels are an indispensable part of everyday life. This was true before the pandemic but is even more definitive now. Economic lockdowns, social distancing and remote work have all contributed...

April 20, 2021
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19Apr

Asia Is Increasing Its ESG Asset Appetite

Sustainability funds explode onto the global financial scene, and the momentum is not stopping anytime soon. JPMorgan’s head of environmental, social, and governance research Elaine Wu pointed out that sustainability funds doubled in 2020, and the market segment could double again in Asia, CNBC reports. Read also Fintech but make it eco-friendly. “We’ve seen the amount of asset under management dedicated to ESG investing double in the last year,” Wu told CNBC. “We expect that to double again, in Asia, for the coming...

April 19, 2021
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19Apr

Fintech but make it eco-friendly.

Green finance has long been becoming more and more popular as the race to save our planet is increasingly important. For years now we’ve heard about how we all need to do our bit to slow the rapid pace of global warming and it seems like the message has taken a hold of the fintech world. There’s a growing trend among firms in the sector to operate in a more eco-conscious manner, from planting trees to offering fossil-fuel-free investment options, the...

April 19, 2021
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16Apr

Coinbase IPO: like it or not, you’re now invested in Bitcoin

Whether you think Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are a scam or an economic revolution, you are becoming increasingly exposed to them as financial institutions incorporate them into payments and investments. This year, both Mastercard and Visa have announced plans to allow payments using cryptocurrencies, and the US’s oldest bank, BNY Mellon, has begun accepting cryptocurrencies for its asset management clients. And with the cryptocurrency platform Coinbase selling shares from today via a direct listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange,...

April 16, 2021
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15Apr

2021 Corporate Pension Funding Study

By Zorast Wadia, Alan H. Perry, Charles J. Clark The 2021 edition of the Milliman Corporate Pension Funding Study (PFS) is our 21st annual analysis of the financial disclosures of the 100 U.S. public companies sponsoring the largest defined benefit (DB) pension plans. These 100 companies are ranked highest to lowest by the value of their pension assets that are reported to the public as of the end of fiscal year 2020, to shareholders, and to the U.S. federal agencies...

April 15, 2021
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