December 2023

Japan’s SMBC pension fund explores boosting exposures to alternatives

Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) Pension Fund, managing assets worth 1 trillion yen ($6.6 billion), is poised to increase investments in illiquid alternatives, including infrastructure private equity and debt aimed at maximizing returns. Anticipating a shift in domestic interest rates with the expected exit of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) from its ultra-easy monetary policy, the pension fund is considering reassessing its longstanding strategy of investing Japanese government bonds (JGBs), which has comprised only about 1 per cent of...

Danish pension fund to sell its Tesla shares over union dispute

PensionDanmark, one of Denmark's largest pension funds, said on Wednesday it had decided to sell its holdings in Tesla (TSLA.O) over the U.S. auto company's refusal to enter into agreements with labour unions. The decision is part of a growing Nordic movement to force Tesla to sign collective bargaining agreements with Swedish mechanics, who have been on strike since October. Labour unions in Norway and Denmark this week said they would start blocking transit shipments of Tesla cars meant for the Swedish market. Tesla has a policy of not...

Pension scheme consolidation expected to continue into 2024

The UK’s 5,000 corporate defined benefit (DB) pension schemes recorded a near record surplus of £245bn in November, according to PwC’s Buyout Index, showing that schemes continue to have sufficient assets on average to ‘buyout’ their pension promises. Meanwhile, PwC’s Low Reliance Index has had a record month with a surplus of £380bn. This index assumes schemes invest in low-risk, income-generating assets like bonds, which should mean the pension scheme is unlikely to call on the sponsor for further funding. As...

AI and pension funds: Is AI a safe bet for retirement investment?

Pension funds are in a perpetual crisis worldwide, with low demographic rates in many countries foreshadowing a dim future for such investments, combined with young people’s lack of faith in the continued existence of social security models. In order to stay afloat, many pension funds have strived to remain apprised of new investment opportunities, including cryptocurrencies. According to a 2022 study published by the CFA Institute, “94% of state and government-sponsored pension funds are invested in one or more cryptocurrencies.” But pension fund...

Insurance and pension fund ownership of UK shares drops to record low

The proportion of UK quoted shares held by pension and insurance funds dropped to the lowest on record in 2022, latest data from the Office for National Statistics reveals. The statistics agency's biennial bulletin - published today (4 December) - showed the proportion of UK quoted shares owned by the two sectors fell to 4.2% in 2022, down from 4.3% in 2020 and 6.1% in 2018, and a stark contrast to the position in 1991 when pension funds and insurers...

The Largest U.S. Pension Fund Just Rolled Out A Climate Transition Plan Focused On Risk And Opportunity

There are times when an established company, an investor, a startup makes a move that is so strategic—so in tune with the risks and the opportunities of the moment—that it marks the shift between the market’s past and its future. We recently witnessed that moment. In a bold step tailored to meet the existential challenges and colossal financial risks of a warming climate and harness the massive opportunities of the shift to a new clean economy, California Public Employees' Retirement System...

2023 Prudent Pension Funding Report: A story of positive trends and persistent outliers

By Michael Hall  In the wake of last year’s market turbulence, are most corporate pension plans still on a pathway to achieving full funding? Yes, according to our latest research. Our 2023 Prudent Pension Funding Report reveals most (97%) corporate pension plans can achieve full funding without a significant draw on corporate cash, based on the respective firms’ latest disclosures as well as market and interest rate movement so far in 2023. This finding increased from 86% in last year’s report. Despite...

Subjective survival beliefs and the life-cycle model

By Seung Yeon Jeong, Iqbal Owadally, Steven Haberman & Douglas Wright Evidence from panel surveys of households, collected over several years and in different countries, shows that people’s perception about their remaining lifetime deviates from actuarial data. This has consequences for consumption, savings and investment over an individual’s financial life cycle, and in particular for retirement planning and the purchase of annuities. We use data from the U.S. Survey of Consumer Finances to estimate subjective survival probabilities at different ages....

Augmenting the Funded Ratio: New Metrics for Liability Based Plans

By Sanjiv Ranjan Das, Daniel N Ostrov, Anand Radhakrishnan, Deep Srivastav & Wylie Tollette The primary metric used to determine the health of a liability based plan (LBP) is the funded ratio, which is the ratio of the LBP’s current assets to its present-valued liabilities. The funded ratio, however, cannot accommodate a considerable number of important financial factors, so we suggest three additional metrics of financial health, each connected to the probability of fulfilling the plan’s liabilities. The first two...

Australia pension funds call for reforms to encourage green energy investment at home

Australian pension funds called on Friday for the government to enact reforms that would make it easier to invest in domestic renewable energy projects and warned that without action investors would opt for more compelling overseas projects. Australia's electricity transmission network, batteries and sustainable aviation fuel are three areas where simplified planning, subsidised finance and other regulatory changes could catalyse investment, according to a report released by eight major pension funds. Changes could quickly unlock A$4 billion ($2.7 billion) worth of...