April 2020

08Apr

COVID 19: Emerging Investment Risks for Pension Schemes

Daily policy initiatives by governments across the world who are desperate to avoid the worst ravages of an economic recession are fuelling a lot of the volatility in public markets with which investors are now sadly familiar. However, many pension funds have significant private market exposures through alternative investments. Those holdings are not immune to government intervention and pension funds should note the sometimes unexpected effect of policy changes. The Pensions Regulator’s COVID 19 guidance on 27 March advised...

April 8, 2020
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03Apr

Financial tools to learn to invest without leaving home

News, market analysis, games… BBVA’s Center for Financial Education and Capability offers a complete selection of online tools, provided by financial institutions, start-ups and specialized organizations for investors who need information and advice, and users who want to get started in the investment field. Here are some of them: The Financial Diet It is mainly a YouTube channel on personal finances with short, easy to understand, highly educational videos. The playlist contains audiovisual content that covers all types...

April 3, 2020
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02Apr

US. Coronavirus Is Making the Public Pension Crisis Even Worse

For years, the country’s public pension plans have faced a yawning gap between what they owe and what they can pay. From the State of California’s public employees’ retirement plan, with more than 1.6 million participants, to tiny funds for employees of local mosquito-control programs in Illinois, public pensions are the time bomb of government finance. Now the coronavirus pandemic has it ticking faster. Already chronically underfunded, pension programs have taken huge hits to their investment portfolios over the...

April 2, 2020
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02Apr

Financial market volatility brings Canadian pension health to lowest level in more than three years

With global equity markets and bond yields plummeting as the coronavirus spreads throughout the world, the solvency positions of Canadian defined benefit pension plans declined by more than 13 percentage points from Q4 2019, representing the lowest level of financial health since November 2016 , according to the first-quarter Median Solvency Ratio Survey by Aon plc (AON), the leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement, and health solutions. "March might have been the...

April 2, 2020
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02Apr

Dutch pension funds invest in coronavirus bond

Dutch pension funds invested a total €36 million ($38 million) in a new bond aimed at combating the coronavirus pandemic. Pension funds managed by APG and PGGM have invested in the Nordic Investment Bank's €1 billion Response Bond, which matures in April 2023. Proceeds of the bond will finance projects that help to alleviate the social and economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic in NIB's eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. APG has...

April 2, 2020
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March 2020

31Mar

Canadian pension scheme CDPQ to help coronavirus-hit firms with C$4 billion fund

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), one of Canada's biggest state pension investors, said on Monday it would create a C$4 billion fund to support companies in Québec adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Read also Financial market volatility brings Canadian pension health to lowest level in more than three years The fund would be used to address liquidity needs of companies, whether or not in CDPQ's portfolio, that meet certain criteria, including being profitable before the crisis,...

March 31, 2020
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30Mar

Japan. World’s largest pension fund growing greener

Japan’s massive Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) has been a keen proponent of investing in sustainable assets. In 2019, it committed to investing a sizeable tranche of its US$1.6 trillion assets under management into green and socially responsible investments. And by making asset managers accountable with this strategy, the GPIF is strongly pushing the boundaries of sustainability investing, not only in Japan, but in the global asset management industry as well. In its latest move towards...

March 30, 2020
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25Mar

UK. Parliament pension fund cuts fossil fuel investments

Parliament’s pension fund has made record investments in renewable energy and cut its exposure to fossil fuel companies to bring MPs’ pensions in line with the government’s climate action targets. A report from the £700m pension fund showed that almost a third is now being invested in low carbon and environmentally sustainable funds following calls from hundreds of MPs to align the fund with the government’s legally binding climate commitments. Read also Swedish Pension AP1 Divests From Fossil Fuels ...

March 25, 2020
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24Mar

UK. Parliamentary pension fund steps up renewables investment, but MPs insist full divestment urgently needed

MPs and peers have today again called on Parliament's pension fund to divest from fossil fuel assets, after its latest annual report revealed that despite an uptick in green investments the fund is still heavily reliant on fossil fuel majors. The cross-party Divest Parliament initiative today responded to the recently released annual report from the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF), which revealed that the fund has significant increased its interest in low carbon assets while reducing its exposure to...

March 24, 2020
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20Mar

Grouping Individual Investment Preferences in Retirement Savings: A Cluster Analysis of a USS Members Risk Attitude Survey

By David P. Blake, Mel Duffield, Ian Tonks, Alistair Haig, Dean Blower, Laura MacPhee Cluster analysis is used to identify homogeneous groups of members of USS in terms of risk attitudes. There are two distinct clusters of members in their 40s and 50s. One had previously ‘engaged’ with USS by making additional voluntary contributions. It typically had higher pay, longer tenure, less interest in ethical investing, lower risk capacity, a higher percentage of males, and a higher percentage of...

March 20, 2020
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