January 2021

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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04Jan

Global investors hungry for A-shares despite tensions

China's healthy economy and expanding equities market is drawing more eyes from across the world. Australian superannuation funds, in particular, are looking to invest more. For the past two decades Chinese investors have been eager to sample the broadening array of morsels available in the country’s rapidly growing equity market. Now, more foreign asset owners are looking to join the feast, with some of Australia's superannuation funds leading the way, despite deteriorating relations between Beijing and Canberra....

January 4, 2021
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December 2020

30Dec

UK. How will Brexit impact pensions and investments?

Some 51% of people with pensions and/or investments are worried about how their savings are performing, according to a recent Which? survey. So should the new trade deal between the EU and UK be a cause for concern? Which? surveyed 2,112 UK adults in September and found that of the 1,645 people with pensions and/or investments, 19% were ‘very worried’ and 32% were ‘fairly worried’ about their performance. The FTSE 100 has surged on news of a Brexit deal since...

December 30, 2020
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