March 2024

Pension funds and fossil fuel phase-out: historical developments and limitations of pension climate strategies

 By Clara McDonnell Despite the decades of international climate negotiations and several landmark agreements, global efforts to date to restrict fossil fuel production in line with climate targets have been unsuccessful. As national and international policies continue to fall short of phasing out fossil fuels, increasing attention has been paid to non-state actors, like pension funds, as a potential source of more ambitious climate action. As major asset owners, large shareholders in fossil fuel companies, and historically activist investors, pension...

U.S. PRT transactions hit all-time high in 2023 – Aon

U.S. pension risk transfer transactions totaled $45 billion and set a new record for number of transactions for 2023, according to a new report from Aon. There were a total of 773 transactions, which include pension buyouts as a result of retiree liftouts and terminations, along with a small number of buy-ins in which liabilities are insured but remain with a plan sponsor, according to the report. Of that total, there were 453 terminations, 310 liftouts and 10 buy-in transactions, accounting...

Chief Risk Officers Say Cybersecurity Most Pressing Risk: Survey

In an inaugural EY/Institute of International Finance (IIF) global insurance risk management survey, cybersecurity was ranked as the highest concern for chief risk officers. CROs surveyed said the top five risk types or risk management types for the coming year were: 53% – Cybersecurity risk 35% – Insurance risk (e.g., underwriting risk, including lapses, catastrophic (CAT) and longevity risk) 32% – Business model change/transformation 26% – Credit risk (including country, sovereign and concentration risk) 24% – Tied between capital allocation, interest...

US. Pension Risk Transfers Trigger New ERISA Litigation

March is coming in like a lion with a new “genre” of ERISA litigation. The suits—two now targeting AT&T, the other Lockheed Martin—acknowledge that the process itself is perfectly legal, but question the prudence of the decision to “offload” that pension responsibility to parties—more specifically one party in particular—deemed less financially viable to fulfill those obligations. AT&T The plaintiffs in the first AT&T suit filed March 11 in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Piercy et al. v....

US. AT&T Faces Second Lawsuit Over Pension Plan Risk Transfer

AT&T Inc. was sued for the second time in a week by retirees who say it wrongly shifted responsibility for funding the pensions of 96,000 workers to a “highly risky” insurance company owned by private equity. The latest proposed class action, filed March 15 in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, says AT&T offloaded more than $8 billion worth of pension benefits to subsidiaries of Athene Holding Ltd., which the retirees describe as “a private-equity controlled insurance company...

US. CalPERS pledges more than $8 billion to alts

CalPERS committed $850 million each to Global Infrastructure Partners V and a co-investment sidecar fund. Pension fund officials committed $512 million to buyout fund CVC Capital Partners IX, $300 million to Asia-Pacific focused buyout fund CVC Capital Partners Asia VI, and $268 million to buyout fund Whitney Global Partners II, all managed by CVC Capital Partners. CalPERS committed an additional $300 million to Thrive Capital Partners VIII Growth, a late- stage venture capital fund. It also committed $300 million each...

The next stage of ESG evolution in the pension landscape

By Investment Institute A juggernaut that’s losing momentum or just refiring its engine? This question on ESG investing has come to the fore due to a confluence of exceptional events in 2022. After meeting investors’ return expectations since the 2015 Paris Agreement, last year’s savage bear market hit a broad range of investment strategies, no matter their intrinsic merits. ESG was no exception. The episode showed that ESG investments are exposed to periodic setbacks due to a larger dynamic that has little to do with...

Japan’s GPIF under spotlight following plans to expand manager pool

In a pivotal moment for Japan’s financial landscape, plans by the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)  to widen its scope of asset managers have reverberated through domestic markets. With GPIF president Masataka Miyazono’s announcement at the forefront, the world’s largest pension fund embarks on a strategic journey, challenging traditional selection criteria and signaling a shift in investment strategy as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida aims to elevate the standard of the country’s asset owners. Comments by Miyazono, the president of the...

Pension Funds Market to Reach $109.1 trillion, Globally, by 2032 at 5.5% CAGR: Allied Market Research

The demographic shifts, regulatory shifts, and the growing emphasis on sustainable and responsible investing, driven by increasing awareness of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are expanding the market reach of pension funds. Prime determinants of growth As populations age globally, the demand for pension products rises, compelling funds to adapt their investment strategies for long-term sustainability. Regulatory changes, aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability within the pension industry, push funds to adopt more sophisticated risk management practices. However, economic uncertainties...

Retirement industry shows mixed response to U.K. budget proposals

The U.K. retirement industry has urged caution over announcements in the nation's spring budget statement by Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, with proposals including the establishment of a unifying "pot for life" and a move to mandate disclosures of how much of a portfolio is invested in the U.K. Hunt confirmed that the U.K. government was to continue with its retirement "pot for life" concept — allowing participants to request that new employers contribute into an existing retirement plan...