April 2025

Tariffs, Tokens, and Turmoil: The Market Fallout from Trump’s Policy Uncertainty

By David Krause This paper investigates the financial consequences of economic policy shifts following President Trump's second inauguration in January 2025. Using empirical data from April 2024 through April 7, 2025, this study assesses asset performance across U.S. equities, cryptocurrencies, gold, and bonds. The administration's aggressive trade protectionism, ambiguous digital asset directives, and deregulatory approach to artificial intelligence have triggered heightened market volatility, diminished investor confidence, and a rotation toward defensive assets. Indexed returns reveal that traditional safe havens like...

Peru to promote investments in reforestation and carbon credits

The Government will promote private investment in reforestation and forest maintenance, thereby harnessing Peru's potential in the global carbon credit market. Similarly, it will develop a regulatory framework to facilitate and foster sustainable investment, mainly in the Amazonia. To this end, Minister Jose Salardi (Economy and Finance) met with his peers Angel Manero (Agrarian Development and Irrigation) and Juan Carlos Castro (Environment) to assess the country's potential in the issuance of carbon credits. Also present at the meeting were representatives from Imperative company, who highlighted Peru's ability to capitalize on...

Pension funds record overallocation to private equity in Q1 2025

Global pension funds in aggregate were above their median target allocation to private equity in the first quarter of 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. The median target allocation across 298 pension funds was $306.8 million, and the median actual allocation was $330.3 million, resulting in a $23.5 million overallocation. Allocation takes on greater significance if public markets enter a sustained decline, resulting in an overallocation to private markets due to the denominator effect. The imbalance can restrict a...

State of Social Protection Report 2025: The 2-Billion-Person Challenge

By The World Bank   Today, more people have access to social protection now than at any point in history. Over the last decade, 4.7 billion people across low- and middle-income countries gained access to social protection. However, critical gaps remain. Two billion people in those countries remain uncovered or inadequately covered by social protection. The State of Social Protection Report 2025: The 2-Billion-Person Challenge documents advances and challenges to strengthening social protection and labor systems across low- and middle-income countries and...

London Pensions Fund Commits £250 Million to Ambitious New Green Investment Drive

In a strategic move that underscores its accelerating push toward net zero, the London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) has pledged 3% of its £8 billion portfolio—approximately £250 million—toward investments in environmental solutions. This allocation will seed a newly launched private markets fund to support global decarbonisation efforts through climate-aligned assets. But this isn’t just a one-off gesture. It’s part of a much broader financial and philosophical commitment. The LPFA doesn't manage its assets in isolation. Its investments are pooled with those...

European stocks in red as China responds to US

European stocks opened lower on Wednesday, as investors digest the ongoing trade war between the US and China. The FTSE 100 index opened down 134.23 points, 1.7%, at 7,776.30. The FTSE 250 was down 293.86 points, 1.6%, at 18,055.29, and the AIM All-Share was down 7.08 points, 1.1%, at 634.58. The Cboe UK 100 was down 1.6% at 774.66, the Cboe UK 250 was down 1.7% at 15,700.63, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.3% at 14,618.76. US President Donald Trump’s...

ESG KPI report 2025. Managing what you measure

By Invest Europe Tackling climate change and standing strong on responsible investment themes, such as diversity and zero tolerance to corruption, are among the greatest challenges – and responsibilities – facing the European private equity industry today. These considerations are not only at the forefront of policymakers’ and investors’ minds, but also ever more central to consumers when they decide how to spend their money. We are firm believers in the saying that you cannot manage what you don’t measure. With...

ESG investing: a global investor survey

By AXA Investment Managers We are committed to responsible investing and supporting the transition to sustainable economies. As long-term custodians of wealth, we strive to identify and back environmental, social and governance (ESG) leaders that can protect and grow client portfolios. In doing so, we believe that understanding customer perspectives is paramount, which is why we carried out this extensive study on individual views toward ESG investing across various markets, regions, and demographics.   Get the report here

Oil spills, scandals of the past embolden ESG stance of U.N. pension fund CEO

A plastic water bottle might not prompt most people to engage in lighthearted employee ribbing, but for Pedro Guazo, the CEO of the office of investment management at the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, it did. As he watched the office's communications officer, Pilar Lagos, pull a mini water bottle out of her bag during a meeting, he remarked: “Is that,” he asked playfully, “a single-use plastic water bottle?” Sitting on top of the large conference room table was a...

Pension investors told not to panic amid market turbulence from Trump’s tariffs

Pension investors should remain calm despite market turbulence caused by US President, Donald Trump's tariffs, Hargreaves Lansdown head of retirement analysis, Helen Morrissey, has said. Trump announced yesterday (2 April 2025) ​a 10 per cent tariff on all UK imports to the US tariffs, with higher "reciprocal" tariffs for the countries branded the "worst offenders". However, Morrissey emphasised that pensions are a long-term game, warning that making “knee jerk reactions”, such as changing investment strategy or cutting back on contributions, can...