October 2020

21Oct

UAE. Abu Dhabi Pension Fund and ADQ to Invest $2.1 Billion in Gas Pipelines

The Abu Dhabi Pension Fund (ADPF) and holding company ADQ have made a $2.1 billion investment in the state’s gas pipeline assets. The state pension fund and holding company will take a one-fifth stake in the gas pipeline assets owned by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which oversees 38 pipelines spanning 610 miles, the state-owned oil company ADNOC said last week. “The addition of these high-caliber UAE investors sets a new benchmark for leading global and...

October 21, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
21Oct

Canada. Quebec Pension Launches Fund to Boost Diversity in Smaller Firms

Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec is launching a C$250 million ($190 million) fund to invest in small and medium-sized businesses in Canada that have diverse executives and owners. To be eligible, companies must promise that at least 25% of their boards, management teams and shareholders will be comprised of people of diverse backgrounds -- including women, visible minorities and indigenous people -- in the five years following the investment, Caisse said in a statement. “It has been...

October 21, 2020
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
20Oct

These Are the World’s Best (and Worst) Pension Systems in 2020

The Netherlands and Denmark have cemented their positions as having the best pension systems in the world, even as other countries falter during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an annual global survey. Read also Pandemic puts pressure on global pensions The countries again took the top two slots in the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index published Tuesday, drawing praise for holding their nerve and not allowing citizens to drain their accounts during the crisis. Read also Asia managers set...

October 20, 2020
News, Slider, , , , ,
Read more...
20Oct

Asia managers set strategies for expected U.S. election chaos

Money managers in Asia are deploying a range of traditional and unconventional strategies to cushion any losses as they brace for turbulence in the lead-up and aftermath of the U.S. presidential election. Chinese equities feature high in some recommendations on expectations the vote will have a limited impact on Asian assets, while derivatives that protect against a market slide are also listed among the strategies. Several investors suggest more conventional hedges such as the yen and gold as well...

October 20, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
19Oct

Canada. CPPIB urged to plan now for net-zero reality

Despite Canada's economic reliance on its oil and gas industry, finance experts and sustainability advocates are urging large public investors like the C$434.4 billion ($326.3 billion) Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to implement long-term investment strategies that better align with the federal government's pledge to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Multiple sources agree that Toronto-based CPPIB, Canada's largest pension fund, should support the country's transition to a low-carbon economy, enhance its disclosure of fossil-fuel investments and set a...

October 19, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
16Oct

The Importance of Extending Diversity to the Retirement Plan Committee

This year, in particular, with the protests that sprung up across the country following the death of George Floyd, has shown many companies the importance of having a truly diverse workforce. And that principle should extend to the retirement plan committee as well as the workforce, experts say. While having a diverse committee is ideal, the first thing plan sponsors should do is select experts to sit on the committee, says Timothy Irvin, a director and corporate markets practice...

October 16, 2020
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
07Oct

UK. Pension bill amendment to give trustees power to halt transfers

Trustees of pensions schemes could soon be getting more powers to halt suspicious pension transfers, according to the Pension Scams Industry Group. Read also More sponsors in U.K. embrace outsourcing The group said an amendment restricting the statutory right to a transfer is to be tabled to the pension schemes bill by two MPs, in an attempt to combat pension scams. Read also Ireland. State’s pension scheme for public servants ‘more sustainable’ It had proposed the amendment in its submission to...

October 7, 2020
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
07Oct

Government unlikely to target South Africa’s retirement funds

The Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA) says that government is unlikely to force retirement funds to invest in specific projects through prescribed assets. Leon Campher, chief executive of ASISA, said that in recent months the various National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) partners, namely government, labour, business and community, tabled their economic recovery plans and not a single one mentioned the prescription of assets as a possible solution. “It needs to be noted that not...

October 7, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
06Oct

LDI immune to COVID-19 but lack of diversification persists

Bookended by two “once in a generation” crises, the past decade was full of surprises, including a double bull market for both equities and fixed income. However, despite record-breaking returns in equity and fixed-income markets, the funded status of the pension plans of companies in the S&P 500 index, in aggregate, exhibited an L-shaped recovery. To answer why funded status did not keep up with soaring equity and bond returns, Voya Investment Management analyzed publicly available information published in...

October 6, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
05Oct

More sponsors in U.K. embrace outsourcing

Multiemployer providers see influx as plan trustees move to cut costs, meet regulations Multiemployer plan providers in the U.K. are winning more defined contribution business as sponsoring employers have been more decisive about outsourcing under the pandemic-induced lockdown. The heightened interest comes as U.K. employers were already increasingly considering outsourcing plan assets to multiemployer plans, known in the U.K. as master trusts, to cut costs at a time when the government has been increasing trustee duties and decreasing support....

October 5, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...