October 2022
12Oct

US. N.J. pension fund would stop investing in fossil fuels under bill moved Thursday

The movement to divest pension funds from fossil fuel companies is gaining steam in New Jersey after lawmakers advanced a long-stalled bill Thursday. "What's proposed here is sending a signal to the fossil fuel world and industry that we've gotta find different ways to live - and you, the companies that produce these fuels, you've got to help us," said Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), a prime sponsor of the bill and chair of the Senate Energy Committee. The measure (S416) would...

October 12, 2022
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11Oct

Impact funds grow 40% over last two years, hitting $1 trillion

Impact investing has soared 40% over the past two years, according to a fresh analysis, as more money flows into strategies that actively seek to save the planet and its people. Investor allocations to impact investing, which targets specific environmental, social or governance outcomes instead of just screening for ESG risks, now stands at more than $1 trillion, according to the Global Impact Investing Network. That growth feeds into a maelstrom of discordant views around ESG that have plunged the once...

October 11, 2022
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05Oct

UK. Renewed focus on pension fund investment strategy following Bank of England’s intervention in gilt market

The ramifications of the Bank of England's urgent purchasing of government bonds are being felt by pension funds and some insurance firms. The upheaval in gilt (UK government bond) markets that led to last week's spectacular intervention from the Bank of England continues to reverberate. The Bank was obliged to buy long-dated gilts - those with a maturity of 20 or 30 years - on Wednesday last week following a wave of forced selling by pension funds. Those pension funds had been...

October 5, 2022
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05Oct

The Depth & Breadth of Sustainable Finance Regulatory Initiatives: Global Developments in 2022

By Lydia Sandner & Noam Cherki The scope and pace of global sustainable finance regulation has accelerated in 2022 across an array of regulatory areas (taxonomies, ESG and climate risk management and disclosures, product requirements, ESG in stewardship, and green bond frameworks). ▪ Regulatory efforts continue to prioritize management of climate-related financial risk as well as preventing greenwashing, although the agenda is beginning to expand to naturerelated risks and social issues as well. ▪ The European Union continues to be the leading...

October 5, 2022
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03Oct

Denominator effect causes plans to rethink allocations

A major reason pension funds are rethinking their asset allocations is an increased exposure to private assets — due, largely, to the denominator effect. Pension plans with private investments have seen that part of the portfolio "hold up pretty well vs. public equities and bonds that are down double digits this year," said Sona Menon, Boston-based head of North American pension practice at Cambridge Associates LLC. "This is a combination of what we call the denominator effect — because the...

October 3, 2022
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September 2022
30Sep

Ghana. SSNIT pension scheme continues to post negative return on investments; records -12.6% return in quarter 1 – Report

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) pension scheme continued to post a negative real rate of return, recording -12.6% at the end of the first quarter of this year. According to the Financial Stability Review report by the Bank of Ghana, assets available for benefits of the SSNIT-managed Basic National Social Security Scheme (BNSSS) dropped marginally by 2.3% to ¢11.28 billion in March 2022 from the ¢11.54 billion recorde in 2021 Quarter 4. Also, though the private pensions industry...

September 30, 2022
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30Sep

Pension Insurance Corporation Group Limited. Annual Report and Accounts 2021

By Pension Insurance Corporation Group Limited PIC is a specialist insurer which has become a leader in the UK pension risk transfer market by focusing on our purpose: to pay the pensions of our current and future policyholders. We aim to balance the interests of all our stakeholders – policyholders, employees, shareholders, regulators and others – with excellence in customer service at the heart of what we do. Source @PensionCorporation 601 views

September 30, 2022
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28Sep

UK pensions hit with £100m margin calls as gilts and sterling slide

At least three LDI managers request emergency capital as others consider unwinds to avoid default. UK pension funds have been hit with variation margin calls of as much as £100 million ($107 million) each, after sharp falls in gilts and sterling pushed mark-to-market valuations on derivatives and leveraged repo positions heavily against them. Simeon Willis, chief investment officer of consultancy XPS Pensions Group, says he knows of three different fund managers running pooled pension portfolios that have requested emergency capital...

September 28, 2022
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27Sep

Expert investors believe sustainable investing is most likely to drive long-term returns

This is among the sustainability-focused findings of Schroders’ Global Investor Study 2022, which have been revealed today. “Expert” investors are more likely to believe that investing sustainably is key to driving long-term returns compared with their peers who rate themselves as less knowledgeable, research by Schroders has found. The finding is from Schroders’ Global Investor Study 2022, the bellwether annual survey which highlights trends based on the answers and opinions of more than 23,000 investors in 33 locations. Data was...

September 27, 2022
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07Sep

Reducing portfolio volatility is top priority for European pension funds

European pension funds say reducing absolute portfolio volatility is their top risk management priority, as geopolitical tensions and high inflation continue to impact global investment markets. This is according to new research from Alpha Real Capital. Nearly half (46%) of European pension fund professionals interviewed, who collectively manage €324 billion in assets under management, say increasing portfolio diversification is their top strategic asset allocation priority. Meanwhile, more than a quarter (28%) of respondents say their priority is to increase expected...

September 7, 2022
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