March 2022

More U.K., European investors move away from Russia
04Mar

More U.K., European investors move away from Russia

Asset owners and managers across the U.K. and Europe continued moving away from Russian investments following the invasion of Ukraine. The Swedish Pensions Agency on Monday placed an immediate ban on purchasing Russian funds. "We are stopping the possibility of buying the funds that focus most heavily on investments in Russia. This is done to protect pension savers," said Erik Fransson, head of fund management for the SPA, in a news release. SPA has 2.1 trillion (232 billion) Swedish kronor...

March 4, 2022
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State Pensions Can’t Dump Russian Investments They Don’t Even Know They Own
04Mar

US. State Pensions Can’t Dump Russian Investments They Don’t Even Know They Own

By Edward Siedle Across the nation politicians are naïvely calling for state pensions to dump their Russian investments to punish the country for its invasion of Ukraine. Since state pensions have in recent years agreed to let Wall Street fund managers keep secret their investment holdings, states don’t even know the Russian assets they hold. Yesterday, state Attorney General Dave Yost publicly called upon Ohio’s five public employee retirement funds to divest themselves of Russian financial holdings to further punish the...

March 4, 2022
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Pension Investments: Impacts of the Ukraine / Russia Crisis
04Mar

Pension Investments: Impacts of the Ukraine / Russia Crisis

Pension scheme trustees will naturally be considering what, if any, steps they may wish to take as the economic effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine have begun to be felt worldwide, and as further economic sanctions and restrictions have been imposed on Russia and Belarus. There are two issues for trustees to consider: 1.whether any of their investments are now subject to sanctions; and 2.whether, in the light of sanctions and the economic and political consequences arising from the Russian invasion of...

March 4, 2022
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03Mar

Global Pension Funds Shun Russian Investments

A growing number of pension funds are shunning investments in Russia following the country’s military invasion of Ukraine. Norway’s minister of finance said he will ask the Government Pension Fund Global, Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, to freeze all its investments in Russia immediately, and also divest from Russia. Read also From Japan to the US, sanctions threaten top pension funds’ Russia assets “Given the way the situation has evolved, we consider it necessary for the fund to divest its Russian...

March 3, 2022
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‘ESG is too important to ignore’: What a shift to green investments means for your pensions
03Mar

‘ESG is too important to ignore’: What a shift to green investments means for your pensions

Pension schemes are being used to hit long-term Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals, which experts say may put your savings at risk. Pension schemes in the UK contain over £2.5trn of wealth, and the industry is considered a key part of the shift towards clean energy, according to the Government. It says pension schemes include the “largest single group of institutional investors in the UK, with significant influence over the flow of investments in the economy.” Coupled with their long-term investment...

March 3, 2022
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02Mar

From Japan to the US, sanctions threaten top pension funds’ Russia assets

Norway’s announcement it would divest its sovereign wealth fund’s Russian holdings – totalling $2.8 billion as of end-December – as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised the prospect that other state-backed pension funds might follow their governments’ cues and offload assets en masse. Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) – the largest in the world by assets – had ¥213.1 billion ($1.9 billion) in exposures to Russia as of end-March 2021. Read more @Risk 557 views

March 2, 2022
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02Mar

UK firms rush to dump Russian assets amid efforts to isolate Moscow

British firms are scrambling to dump Russian assets amid efforts by the US, EU and UK governments to deepen Moscow’s economic isolation after the invasion of Ukraine. Read also More U.K., European investors move away from Russia Legal & General, Abrdn and state-backed pension scheme Nest have said they will try to sell their holdings in Russian stocks, while British Gas owner Centrica on Tuesday became the third big British energy firm to cut ties with Russia within a week, echoing...

March 2, 2022
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01Mar

U.S. funds reviewing next steps in light of sanctions against Russia

Federal mandates for sanctioning Russian financial institutions are prompting several U.S. public pension funds to assess their portfolios. Brad Lander, New York City Comptroller and fiduciary of the $266.7 billion New York City Retirement Systems, said in a statement Monday that while the system's five pension funds make individual investment decisions, including those related to divestment, he plans to present to trustees a list of assets to consider divesting. Read also US. NYPD pension fund to divest $42M of Russian-issued securities...

March 1, 2022
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01Mar

Canada. Public servants calling for B.C. public sector pension fund to divest Russian investments

B.C. public servants and opposition political parties are calling on the province’s public sector pension fund to divest in investments in Russian companies. In 2021, BC Investment Management Corporation holdings showed more than $450 million in Russian-owned companies. This includes $103.9 million worth of shares in the Russian state-owned bank Sberbank, $83.85 million in Lukoil, $32.3 million in Rosneft Oil, and $19.16 million in Gazprom. An online petition from pension plan members states they “don’t want to be bankrolling (Vladimir) Putin’s...

March 1, 2022
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01Mar

Kenya. Pension sector outlook positive despite election uncertainties

Kenya’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has a history of slackening during election years. During this period, fund managers and individuals put investment decisions on hold pending a return to normalcy in the political scene. The extremity of the December 2007 elections, which sunk growth to 0.23 per cent in 2008 from 6.85 per cent a year earlier, stretched the speculation on political risk for subsequent years. In 2013, GDP decelerated to 3.80 per cent from 4.57 per cent while...

March 1, 2022
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