May 2023
10May

US. New York State Common reaches deal with 4 companies to cut emissions

New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, reached agreements with four U.S. companies to compel them to set targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and regularly report on their progress, said New York state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, sole trustee of the $242.3 billion pension fund, in a news release Tuesday. As a result of these agreements, the pension fund has withdrawn its shareholder resolutions with the companies. The four companies are Carrier Global Corp., a heating, ventilation and air...

May 10, 2023
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10May

UK. Church of England fund to vote against Shell chair over climate concerns

The Church of England Pension Board said on Tuesday it would vote against Shell's (SHEL.L) chair and directors at its upcoming annual meeting over "signals" the energy giant could revise commitments to fight climate change. Proxy adviser PIRC also recommended investors vote against the energy company's chair and oppose its annual report for "failing to address climate risks by setting adequate targets". Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan, who took office in January, said in March that Shell was reviewing its plan...

May 10, 2023
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10May

Switzerland. Funds from the second pillar – the pension funds are struggling with low returns

Turbulence in the economy and on the financial markets – the pension institutes are also feeling the effects. Last year was not a good one for pension funds. This is shown in the annual report of the Supervisory Commission on occupational pensions. In particular, the fall in share prices has meant that many pension funds have made losses. The majority of these losses could be absorbed thanks to their reserves, but by no means all, as Vera Kupper sums up. 1.1 trillion...

May 10, 2023
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09May

US. Corporate contributions could be a thing of the past

U.S. corporations are continuing to lower their expected contributions to their pension plans in 2023 as more and more plans reach full funded status. The companies behind the 100 largest corporate pension funds plan to contribute a total of up to $12.5 billion in 2023, according to Pensions & Investments' analysis, compared to $16.2 billion contributed in 2022. The data reflect the companies' expected contributions disclosed in their 10-K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For S&P 500 companies overall, 28...

May 9, 2023
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08May

US. Rising interest rates put corporate pension plans on end-game path

U.S. corporate pension plans are on average fully funded for the first time in 15 years, and plan executives are now in the unfamiliar position of being able to achieve the end state of their plans. The publicly traded U.S. companies with the 100 largest defined benefit plans can now boast an average funding ratio of 100.2% as of Dec. 31, according to Pensions & Investments' analysis of the latest 10-K filings. It is the first time the annual analysis has...

May 8, 2023
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05May

US. PBGC Bails Out Service, Manufacturing, Transportation Pension Funds

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. on Monday provided Special Financial Assistance totaling more than $600 million to three multiemployer plans. The plans are the Western States Office and Professional Employees Pension Plan, the United Furniture Workers Pension Fund A and the Building Material Drivers Local 436 Pension Plan. The Western States plan, based in Portland, Oregon, has 7,230 participants in the service industry. In October 2018, it cut benefits by 25% to approximately 6,000 participants under the Multiemployer Pension Reform...

May 5, 2023
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03May

US. DeSantis signs anti-ESG bill one day after state clean-energy investment

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely 2024 Republican presidential candidate, signed a bill Tuesday he touted as the latest salvo in his war against ESG investing, one day after the state's investment office announced a significant investment in clean energy. The law requires the Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, to make investment decisions based "solely on pecuniary factors" and not include environmental, social and governance considerations. The board, which consists of Mr. DeSantis, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, and...

May 3, 2023
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April 2023
26Apr

UN Pension Fund back on track after 2022 as low costs pay off

The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, UNJSPF, is clawing back 2022 losses with assets under management currently valued at $82 billion and the fund experiencing a positive return of 5 per cent so far this year. Robust returns between 2019 and 2021 had swelled the UNJSPF portfolio by 30 per cent to a record high in its 75-year history to over $91.5 billion by the end of 2021. Come 2022, and the ravages of high inflation and ensuing high...

April 26, 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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