January 2023

OECD says pension funds must take ‘extreme care’ with liquidity risks

Pension funds should be “extremely careful” when investing in illiquid assets, as rising interest rates and falling stock markets increase the likelihood of their having to access cash quickly, the OECD has warned. In the recent era of low interest rates, pension funds poured money into alternative investments, such as infrastructure projects and private equity, in an effort to escape the low yields available on government bonds. But such investments are typically illiquid, meaning the funds cannot quickly convert them...

December 2022

5 Threats to Sustainable Investing in 2023

A term that went from euphoria to criticism. That has been the parabolic path of sustainable investing in recent years. Now, investors wonder what’s in store for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing in 2023, and more importantly, what the threats to ESG might be. “Sustainable investing and the consideration of ESG factors have become part of the investment mainstream over the past few years. The rapid growth has been spurred by the need for investors to consider nonfinancial risks...

U.K. Investors must innovate to stay ahead of FCA’s SDR proposal

The FCA’s new sustainability disclosure requirements may prove to be a defining moment for financial services, the chief project officer at the Global Returns Project has said. Jack Chellman told FTAdviser the FCA’s rules, which are currently being consulted on, cannot come soon enough. “Investors are increasingly concerned about greenwashing,” he said. “Looking ahead to 2023, asset managers must embrace innovative approaches to demonstrate their sustainability credentials if they are to satisfy their clients and rise to the challenge of constructing attractive, competitive...

U.S. New York Raises Cap on Pensions’ Private Equity, Hedge Fund Assets

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill on Friday that allows the state’s and New York City’s pensions to increase allocations to more expensive and opaque asset classes like private equity that could potentially deliver higher returns. The bill raises the cap on alternative assets — which also include hedge funds, private real estate and direct loans to companies — as well as foreign stocks, to 35% from 25%. Boosting the limit will allow pensions, including the $233 billion...

Inflation, war, rising interest rates posed steep challenges for investors in 2022

An inflationary environment that is anything but transitory, the volatility arising from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and other geopolitical crises, and a bevy of controversies surrounding ESG investing dominated headlines this year, while the fall of Allianz Global Investors and an exceptionally busy regulatory year were also among Pensions & Investments' top 10 stories of 2022. The top story this year was inflation and the Federal Reserve's aggressive actions to curb it through multiple interest rate hikes. After more than...

How schemes can enjoy the blooming of biodiversity bonds

Analysis: With the world’s nations reaching a historic agreement to preserve global biodiversity at COP15 in Montreal, attention is inevitably turning to how businesses can uphold the commitment to protect 30 per cent of the planet’s land and sea. Financing biodiversity projects has long been a sticking point for institutions. The International Finance Corporation describes a “lack of guidance in the market on criteria for projects eligible for this kind of financing”, resulting in a “gap” between investors’ ambitions and...

5 Takeaways on the State of ESG Investing

ESG investing is hot. But what does it actually deliver for society and for shareholders? For the past several years or so, major funds, managers, and institutional investors have been stocking their portfolios with investments in firms that claim to be engaged in positive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities. On the websites of actively managed funds, investors show giant banners touting a commitment to invest in firms working to make the world a better, safer place, says Aaron Yoon, assistant...

Ghana. Debt Exchange Programme Extended to December Ending

The expiration date of the Debt Exchange Programme (DEP) has been extended to the end of December this year, the Ministry of Finance, has announced. It said in view of the of the festive season, the government had decided to extend the Expiration Date of the voluntary offer to Friday December 30, 2022, with a contemplated settlement date on Friday January 6th, 2023. The voluntary programme should have expired today December 19, 2022. A statement issued by the Ministry of Finance in...

South Korea pension fund opens up FX hedging limit to maximum 10%

South Korea's mammoth state pension fund will hedge foreign exchange risks for up to 10% of its overseas investment compared with zero up to now, the welfare ministry said on Friday, a move expected to ease dollar demand on the onshore FX market. The fund has grown in size and its increasing purchases of dollars for investment abroad have been blamed for exacerbating the dollar/won's already rising trend in recent months. South Korea's currency hit its weakest level in 13...

Regulators set sights on hedge funds after UK pension crisis

Britain's markets watchdog is working with overseas regulators to look at other stresses in the global financial system, such as leveraged hedge funds, its chief executive said on Wednesday, following a pensions crisis in late September. A radical tax-cutting budget in September by former Prime Minister Liz Truss's government triggered a jump in British government bond yields, which forced defined benefit, or final salary pension schemes to raise cash quickly to meet margin calls on liability-driven investment (LDI) derivatives positions....