July 2023

Kenya: Local Infrastructure Projects Seek Over Sh700bn Financing From Pension Industry

The Kenya Pension Funds Investment Consortium (KEPFIC) has received infrastructure and alternative investment proposals worth over Sh700 billion ($5.5 billion) from project sponsors and fund managers looking to raise capital from the local retirement benefits schemes. The proposals come as local pension schemes expand their search for suitable investments to provide diversification and higher returns for pensioners. The announcement was made during the opening of the two-day KEPFIC Annual Investment Conference in Nairobi today, where the shortlisted investment opportunities were presented...

US. The debate over ESG and retirement plans continues

Part of the ongoing congressional debate over ESG centers on whether these factors should be considered as part of pension and retirement funds. Those of you expecting a resolution should prepare to exercise some patience. One of the most active representatives on the anti-ESG side of the debate is Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), who introduced legislation targeting the use of ESG factors in retirement plan investments June 21. Barr has proposed changes to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which...

US Public Pensions Invest Record $1.6 Trillion in Alternative Assets

US public pensions have boosted their exposure to private equity to $622 billion, the highest in at least two decades, as part of a push for higher investment returns, according to a new report by the Equable Institute. Private equity makes up 13% of the state and local retirement plans’ investments as of 2022, compared to 11% the prior year, according to the nonprofit research group, which cited the latest data available. Overall, alternative assets — like private equity, hedge...

U.S. public pension funds unlikely to hit investment targets this year – report

State and municipal pension funds will likely miss their investment targets this year and will probably not see meaningful improvements in their unfunded liabilities or funding ratios, according to Equable Institute's "State of Pensions 2023" report released on Tuesday. Unfunded liabilities climbed to $1.57 trillion in 2022, bringing the national aggregate funding ratio to 75.4% due to negative investment returns, Equable said in a release issued in conjunction with the report. Equable now projects that the aggregate funding ratio for U.S....

More to be done on sustainable investments despite ‘significant improvements’

The proportion of pension schemes seeking greater alignment or integration of sustainable investment beyond employer policies doubled from 20 per cent in 2021 to 40 per cent in 2022, analysis from Mercer has revealed. The group’s latest Responsible Investment Total Evaluation (Rite) report, which benchmarks around 1,000 schemes from across the defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) space, showed that schemes have made “significant improvements” in their sustainable investment credentials. In particular, the research found that 50 per cent of...

How “old economy” companies can be an innovative investment

Innovative companies don’t need to be those that are early stage or particularly associated with technology, according to some long established investors. Francois De Bruin, who runs the Aviva Investors Global Endurance fund, told FTAdviser Vantage Point that long established companies in areas of the old economy, such as Costco, are able to win market share relative to rivals due to what he calls “network effects”, and share the benefits with their customers. Network effects are those which mean that the...

World’s Biggest Pension Fund GPIF Boosts Its Treasuries Holdings

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund boosted its holdings of Treasuries to a three-year high as the dollar’s strength against the yen offset losses on the securities. Resilient demand from GPIF, as the world’s biggest pension fund is known, suggests that elevated yields and a weak yen may support Japanese appetite for Treasuries, even if US interest rates are coming off recent highs as the Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening campaign nears its peak. GPIF holds ¥200 trillion ($1.4 trillion) worth of assets...

ESG Remains Important for Pension Funds and Asset Owners

Asset owners face the thorniest investment challenges today, dealing with inflation, geopolitical instability, and systemic risks like climate change. They oversee some of the world’s largest pools of capital, steering investment policy on behalf of pension plans, foundations, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds. Their practices shape the capital markets and the behavior of asset managers, financial advisors, and retail investors. They invest with a long time horizon and are exposed to the entire global market. That means they can’t diversify...

Britain’s £50 billion pensions gamble provides ‘no guarantees’ for savers

Britain’s financial services industry has broadly cheered fresh government proposals to jump-start the economy by channelling £50 billion (US$64.5 billion) of pension fund cash into fledgling firms, but the plans could backfire on savers, experts said. Finance minister Jeremy Hunt on Monday unveiled a raft of reforms aimed at redirecting a greater proportion of a £4.6 trillion pool of capital managed by Britain’s pensions and insurance sectors into unloved UK assets by 2030. The so-called Mansion House Reforms follow years of...

UK. Workplace pensions to invest billions in unlisted stocks

The government will continue its intervention in the allocation of the UK's trillions of pounds of pension holdings, after Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced that nine of the largest defined contribution (DC) pension schemes had agreed to allocate at least 5 per cent of their default funds to unlisted companies by 2030. Aviva (AV.), Scottish Widows, Legal & General (LGEN), Aegon, Phoenix (PHNX), Nest, Smart Pension, M&G (MNG) and Mercers have signed the Mansion House Compact, Hunt said,...