August 2025
14Aug

UK investment industry reaches £10tn; share of pension assets falls to 27%

The share of pension assets managed by the UK investment management industry has fallen from a peak of 45 per cent of total assets under management (AUM) in 2018 to 27 per cent in 2024, the Investment Association (IA) has revealed. The IA's report explained that the fall was driven by an increasing number of defined benefit (DB) schemes winding down as memberships age, alongside schemes achieving full funding and transferring their liabilities and assets to insurers. The IA also highlighted...

August 14, 2025
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08Aug

What private assets in 401(k) plans mean for investors

Investors may soon have greater access to private assets — that is, investments that are not publicly traded — in their 401(k) or other workplace retirement plans. Financial advisors say that for many workers, the risks may outweigh the rewards. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to increase the availability of alternative assets in 401(k) plans. The order instructs the Department of Labor to reexamine its guidance to employers and plan administrators on incorporating such assets into...

August 8, 2025
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01Aug

Pensions Investment Review: Final Report

By HM Treasury, Department for Work and Pensions & Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government The Final Report sets out the conclusions of the Pensions Investment Review, launched in July 2024.  Legislation to implement the reforms will form part of the forthcoming Pension Schemes Bill. The reforms will deliver a major consolidation in the Defined Contribution (DC) workplace pensions market. This will enable more investment in productive assets and greater potential returns for members of DC workplace schemes. A reserve power will also...

August 1, 2025
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01Aug

Competition Among Dutch Pension Funds: Is there Any?

By Jacob Antoon Bikker & Jeroen Meringa This paper adds to the literature by analysing for the first time the functioning of the Dutch pension funds market from a competition or efficiency perspective. Of course, competition is severely limited on this highly regulated market. The analyses focus on a key property of well-functioning markets: the reward of efficiency. The conclusion can be drawn that in the market for pension funds efficiency is indeed rewarded, up to a certain level. New...

August 1, 2025
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01Aug

Two Alternative Asset Managers and a Dozen Funds Receive Green Light to Access Chilean AFPs

The list of instruments in which Chilean pension funds can invest continues to grow, and July was no exception. The most recent meeting of the Risk Rating Commission (CCR) — the entity that determines which asset managers and funds can offer their strategies to the AFPs — gave the green light to two alternative asset managers and a dozen funds, including two ETFs. According to a statement, the entity’s latest meeting — held this week — resulted in a series of approvals,...

August 1, 2025
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July 2025
31Jul

Ghana. SSNIT’s strategic investments stabilise economy

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has invested GH¢2.42 billion in the country’s financial services sector. The fund currently holds shares in 22 of the 36 companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange, thereby playing a stabilising role in the economy. SSNIT’s current investment in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies stands at over $500 million, making it the largest institutional investor in the country’s telecommunications sector. The Director-General (D-G) of SSNIT, Kwesi Afreh Biney, who made this known in...

July 31, 2025
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31Jul

US. Private Equity Delivers High Risk, Low Returns, and Costly Fees

Private equity does not deliver the superior returns that its advocates insist justify pension fund investment in this sector, and such investment would be highly risky for retail investors, according to a new report published by the AFT and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund. The stakes couldn’t be higher, as the Trump administration is expected to issue a new executive order that would require federal agencies to explore opening up 401(k) plans to risky private market investments. This is something the...

July 31, 2025
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29Jul

Kenya. Why caution is need as pension funds step into PPP space

Infrastructure is increasingly being positioned as a strategic investment class for long-term institutional investors across the world. For pension funds, the allure is understandable as well-structured projects like roads, ports, and energy grids promise stable, long-term cash flows that align well with the long-term liabilities of the fund. However, while the promise of infrastructure is compelling, the reality, especially in emerging markets like Kenya, demands a cautious and informed approach. The Kenya National Highways Authority recently announced that it had received...

July 29, 2025
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28Jul

Will the US open 401(k) plans to private markets?

The likelihood that the Trump administration will seek to open up 401(k) retirement savings plans to private markets through an executive order seems to be rising. According to The Wall Street Journal, the order may instruct the labour department and the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer guidance on how to include private asset options in 401(k) plans, which comprised US$12.4 trillion in defined-contribution plans alone as of end-2024. Such proposals have long been surrounded by doubts about their viability for retail...

July 28, 2025
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28Jul

UK pension funds commit further £118m to Octopus affordable housing fund

Octopus Capital said it had raised a further £118m (€136m) for its Affordable Housing Fund from three UK local government pension schemes (LGPS), taking the fund’s total funds under management, including co-investment capital to over £360m. The new investment has come from Strathclyde Pension Fund, a Glasgow-based LGPS, with £50m, London CIV with £58m, and Avon LGPS with £10m. Strathclyde is a new investor, while the London CIV and Avon investments are building on previous contributions to a fund that has attracted...

July 28, 2025
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