April 2024
09Apr

Pensions giant to create UK superfund in boost for Hunt

Britain’s biggest long-term savings and retirement business is drawing up plans to launch a new superfund to back fast-growing companies in a boost for Jeremy Hunt. Phoenix, which owns insurer Standard Life, is in the early stages of creating a multibillion-pound investment vehicle that insiders say will help turbocharge investment in high-growth sectors and lift pension returns. This includes pooling cash to invest in life sciences and fintech businesses, as well as injecting long-term venture capital into unlisted companies in the...

April 9, 2024
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08Apr

Largest Australia Pension Fund Says Now Is the Time to Buy Private Assets

Australia’s largest pension fund wants to put more money into private-market investments and will further boost its exposure to overseas assets. “Now is a better time to put money into private markets than two or three years ago, when valuations were more expensive and deals were quite scarce,” AustralianSuper Chief Investment Officer Mark Delaney said on Bloomberg TV in Melbourne on Monday. “The inability for a lot of US pension plans to recycle capital has meant that private deal opportunities are...

April 8, 2024
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08Apr

Japan’s GPIF and Netherlands’ APG join forces to invest in infrastructure

Japan’s ¥225trn (€1.37trn) Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) and Dutch pensions asset manager APG have teamed up to invest in infrastructure. The pension fund investors said they have launched the joint investment programme to “gain access to attractive investment opportunities, with a focus on infrastructure in developed markets worldwide”, without disclosing any financial information. The partnership is expected to focus on sectors such as sustainable energy, fibre networks, transport and other infrastructure projects. “The partnership will focus on investment opportunities that align with...

April 8, 2024
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05Apr

UK: FCA to examine asset management fees, pensions

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is to launch a market study on asset management to examine charges paid by investors, the regulator said on Tuesday, as it laid out its business plan for the coming year. Other areas of focus include examining whether pension firms are helping consumers make the right choices, following an overhaul announced in 2014 which eased requirements on people to buy annuities as part of their pension. “The business plan is set against the backdrop of the...

April 5, 2024
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March 2024
27Mar

Global top 300 pension funds

By Thinking Ahead Institute The global top 300 pension funds is an annual study conducted by the Thinking Ahead Institute, in conjunction with Pensions and Investments. The research highlights high-level trends in the pension fund industry and provides information on how the characteristics of these top funds have changed. Get the report here

March 27, 2024
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27Mar

Report on long term investing of large pension funds and public pension reserve funds 2023: Annual Survey of Large Pension Funds and Public Pension Reserve Funds

By Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development This is the tenth edition of the OECD survey of large pension funds and public pension reserve funds that collects long-term investment data since it was first published in 2011. The scope of this report covers 87 public and private pension funds from 34 countries. This survey is based on a qualitative questionnaire sent directly to large pension funds and public pension reserve funds. It covers the infrastructure investments made by large pension...

March 27, 2024
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27Mar

UK. Data shows public concern about pensions adequacy and climate change

Most of the public want the government to do more to address pensions adequacy and to ensure the industry is tackling the climate crisis, research from ShareAction, Make My Money Matter and Finance Innovation Lab finds. The research from the responsible investment organisations – which polled 2,000 UK adults this month – found three quarters (77%) of the public were concerned about adequacy, while two thirds (65%) wanted the pensions industry to address climate change. As part of its work, the group put...

March 27, 2024
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26Mar

Majority of U.K. DB plans looking for buy-in or buyout

More than half (53%) of the U.K.’s large defined benefit plans are planning for an insurer buy-in or buyout within the next three years, according to research by insurance and asset management firm Legal & General. In 2023, around £50 billion of U.K. retirement income was secured with insurance companies through pension buy-ins and buyouts. When it came to investment strategy, three quarters of respondents affirmed that they were decreasing allocations to illiquid assets. Insurers have previously expressed caution in engaging...

March 26, 2024
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25Mar

South Africa. Two-pot system: how the state is dealing with its own funds

There are three pension funds in the country, including South Africa’s largest fund, that are not governed by the Pension Funds Act, and National Treasury needs to deal with these separately in implementing its famous two-pot retirement system. I refer to three government pension funds, in particular the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), which holds more than R2.3 trillion in assets and has almost 1.3 million active members and another 475 000 pensioners and beneficiaries. This fund is constituted under...

March 25, 2024
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22Mar

U.S. Pension Risk Transfer. 2023 Reflections and Looking Ahead

By AON The U.S. pension risk transfer (PRT) market saw another record-breaking year in 2023. After setting record highs for total premium in 2021 and 2022, the market set a new high-water mark for the total number of transactions in 2023 with 773 deals closing during the calendar year. These transactions resulted in $45 billion of premium transferred. Since 2012, $318 billion of pension obligations have transferred from plan sponsors to insurance companies. On the other side of the equation, insurer...

March 22, 2024
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