April 2023
24Apr

Canada’s Biggest Pension Fund No Longer Bullish On Crypto After $95 Million FTX Wipeout

According to the Financial Times, Canada’s largest single-profession pension plan has learned its lesson after investing in crypto exchange FTX and will not be making any hasty decisions regarding future cryptocurrency investments. After losing $95 million in a now-defunct crypto exchange, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is no longer bullish on cryptocurrency investments. Several prominent funds invested in FTX between 2021 and 2022, just before the exchange’s eventual demise. Pension Plan No Longer Bullish On Crypto According to chief executive Jo Taylor,...

April 24, 2023
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21Apr

Incorporating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Factors into fixed income investment

By The World Bank Group  A growing body of research shows that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors are material credit risk for fixed income investors. The evidence suggests that incorporating ESG into fixed income investing should be part of the overall credit risk analysis and should contribute to more stable financial returns. Its also dispels the myth that incorporating ESG means having to sacrifice financial returns. ESG investing is increasingly becoming part of the mainstream investment process for fixed income investors, as opposed...

April 21, 2023
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21Apr

Management of Retirement Funds by Republican vs. Democrat States: Understanding the Differences

By Mustafa O. Caglayan, Edward R. Lawrence & Robinson Reyes-Peña As most of the state pensions in the USA deal with their respective funding crisis, we compare the management approaches undertaken by funds located in the states that are governed by Republicans vis-à-vis funds that are located in states governed by Democrats. We find that pension funds located in states governed by Republicans display a lower funding ratio compared to the pension funds located in states governed by Democrats. The...

April 21, 2023
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21Apr

EU Climate Risk Regulation Gets Real for the Financial Industry

Political battle lines in the U.S. may have hardened — especially when it comes to applying sustainability standards to public pension investing — but in the EU, things have moved faster. In Europe, climate risk is now accepted as one of the biggest macroeconomic forces impacting economic and business sustainability, and as a result, investment firms are actively grappling with critical decisions on sustainability compliance — including risk measurement, reporting and portfolio composition. Over the past several years, legislators have...

April 21, 2023
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19Apr

Global Pension Funds Fall Short of Private Equity Targets in Q1

Pension funds worldwide fell slightly short of meeting their private equity allocation targets in the year’s first quarter due to uncertain macroeconomic conditions affecting institutional investment decisions, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Among 365 global pension funds, the median allocation to private equity was $276 million, compared with a median target allocation of $280 million, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence and Preqin. The under allocation was attributed to a relative dearth of private equity and venture capital fund...

April 19, 2023
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17Apr

Nigeria. Pension funds investment in banks reduced to N1.6trn by PFAs

The Pension Funds Administrators has reduced the funds under the Contributory Pension Scheme that was invested in fixed deposits and bank acceptances to N1.6 trillion in February. This was as the total funds under the scheme hit N15.49 trillion in the period under review, according to the National Pension Commission. PenCom disclosed this in its unaudited report on the pension funds industry portfolio for the period ended February 28, 2023. The data provided information on the approved existing schemes, Closed Pension...

April 17, 2023
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14Apr

Dutch pension group warns proposal on derivatives could hurt pension funds’ returns

A Dutch pension federation, which represents pension funds with a combined a €1.4 trillion ($1.5 trillion) in assets warned that the latest European proposal on central clearing of derivatives could lead to lower investment returns. Under the latest proposal to amend the European Market Infrastructure Regulation, the European Commission wants market participants to have an active account with a central counterparty, or CCP, inside of the European Union and wants to define a minimum share of transactions that would have...

April 14, 2023
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13Apr

UK. Government body calls on London pension fund to divest fossil fuel holdings

Transport for London Pension Fund, London, should divest its holdings in fossil fuel companies and develop an annual report on performance against net-zero targets, according to calls by a London governmental body. The Greater London Authority committee, which oversees the London Pensions Fund Authority and TfL Pension Fund, launched an investigation as part of a review into its pension funds' investments and costs. The pension funds had about £22 billion ($27.1 billion) in combined assets as of March 31, 2022. In...

April 13, 2023
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12Apr

China. Personal pension system holds room for more development

China's latest attempt at launching a personal pension system will result in the leapfrogging development of securities firms both in terms of additional income and business models, said experts. In mid-April 2022, the State Council, China's Cabinet, rolled out a plan to introduce the personal pension system. Thereafter, the multilayered system has begun to develop in China, comprising basic pension insurance, annuities and personal pensions. The plan officially kicked off in late November, with people in 36 Chinese cities and regions...

April 12, 2023
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11Apr

US. Does ESG Matter in Public Finance? It Depends

In case you’ve tuned it out, there’s a battle underway between proponents of “sustainability” analysis of corporate business practices and those who favor “drill, baby, drill” and “anti-woke” free market profitability metrics and political slogans. The debate worked its way up to Capitol Hill, where Congress passed and President Biden vetoed a bill to stifle retirement account fiduciaries’ consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their funds’ investments. At the state level, meanwhile, a number of oil-rich states...

April 11, 2023
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