February 2024
15Feb

US. Public retirement systems’ investment management expenses dip to 4-year low

Public retirement systems saw their investment management expenses drop significantly in fiscal 2023 from the prior year, reaching a four-year low, according to an annual study by the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. In fiscal 2023, surveyed retirement systems averaged investment management expenses of 39 basis points, down from 49 basis points the year before, while administrative expenses remained steady, according to the study. A Feb. 12 news release revealing the results of the study said the four-year low...

February 15, 2024
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14Feb

US. Sustainable investing has bright future, Morningstar exec says

Sustainable investing has a bright future, as younger generations and those with long-term investing goals, such as pension funds, have expressed interest in it, Morningstar Indexes' head of ESG strategy said at the Exchange ETF conference in Miami Beach, Fla., on Feb. 13. "There's no reason to expect systematic underperformance from sustainable investments, and there's some reason to believe you might be able to get some marginal long-term benefits out of it," Morningstar Indexes' Thomas Kuh said at a panel...

February 14, 2024
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12Feb

The Silver Economy: Unveiling Investment Opportunities in Aging Populations

The global demographic landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. As life expectancies extend and birth rates decline in many parts of the world, the proportion of the elderly population is increasing at an unprecedented rate. This shift has created the “Silver Economy” — a new area of economic growth linked to the needs and activities of aging populations. As the number of older people increases, their needs and preferences will have an increasing impact on shaping our economy and society. For investors,...

February 12, 2024
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09Feb

US. For some pension funds, active investing is once again attractive

Passive investing has been a dominant trend in recent years, but some large U.S. pension funds are seeing more opportunities ramping up in active management. In some ways, the trend is surprising. Low-fee index funds — particularly those focused on the efficient large-cap segment of the U.S. stock market — have historically outperformed their actively managed counterparts over the mid to long term. The track record and cost efficiency of passive products have made them a great success: In 2023,...

February 9, 2024
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06Feb

US. Wisconsin pension holders organize to push investment agency out of fossil fuels

By. ERIK GUNN   A retired technical college teacher in Milwaukee, Anne Steinberg says she appreciates the pension she gets every month and the state agency that manages the pension fund assets. But she also believes the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) could do much better if it made one big change: getting out of any fossil fuel-related investments. “They’re investing for the long term, and we don’t think fossil fuels are good for the long term,” Steinberg says. A few years ago, she and...

February 6, 2024
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02Feb

Climate Polarization and Green Investment

By Anders Anderson & David T. Robinson We build a nationally representative sample of retirement savers in Sweden to study how asymmetric updating of beliefs about climate change affects investment decisions. After the intense heat wave of 2018, respondents in regions dominated by a right-wing, anti-climate party grow less concerned about climate change, while respondents outside these regions grow more concerned. Those growing more concerned rebalance their retirement portfolios toward climate-friendly mutual funds; those growing less concerned rebalance out of...

February 2, 2024
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01Feb

Canadian funds tapping into investment opportunities in Brazil

By PALASH GHOSH   Canadian pension funds have been investing in Brazil, a huge country that boasts a growing $2.1 trillion economy, the largest such economy in Latin America and an especially attractive target for infrastructure and energy investments, as evidenced by the recent agreement by Caisse de Depot et Placement du Québec to increase its stake in a natural gas transmission firm. Ironically, Brazil jumped two spots last year to surpass Canada itself as the globe's ninth biggest economy, the International Monetary...

February 1, 2024
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January 2024
31Jan

U.K. looks to reprioritize investment flexibility in pension fund legislation

The U.K. government is amending proposed legislation to ensure defined benefit plans do not become overly risk averse, following a consultation review that was published online. DB plans in the U.K. will be able to take more investment risk when supported by sponsoring employers, according to the government's final position on the long-running development of new legislation for pension plans. "It was never (the U.K. government's) intention to bear down on risk-taking across the board. Rather, it was to make funding...

January 31, 2024
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31Jan

Australia regulator scrutinises pension funds over unlisted asset pricing

Australia's prudential regulator said on Wednesday it will review how sections of the A$2.5 trillion ($1.7 trillion) pension fund sector value unlisted assets and that it is already working with several funds whose practices need to improve. As part of its supervision priorities for the next six months, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said it will conduct a "deep dive review" into valuation practices at a number of large and mid-sized pension funds. The unnamed funds have material holdings of unlisted...

January 31, 2024
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29Jan

DC funds more open to real assets: Aviva

Seven in 10 defined contribution (DC) schemes plan to increase allocations to real assets in the next two years, according to new research from Aviva Investors. The company’s latest Real Assets Study found that 69% of corporate DC schemes planned to increase their allocation to asset classes such as property and infrastructure over the next 24 months. This was up from 51% in the 2023 edition of the study. The survey included schemes from the UK, Europe, Asia Pacific and...

January 29, 2024
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