November 2021
01Nov

US. DOL ESG investing rule could be here to stay

Democrats and Republicans in Washington broadly view retirement plan fiduciaries considering ESG factors in investment decisions much differently, with the Trump and Biden administrations promulgating vastly dissimilar regulations on the issue. A new rule proposal from the Department of Labor, which marks the latest move in a long-lasting regulatory fight, would explicitly permit retirement plan fiduciaries to consider climate change and other environmental, social and governance factors when selecting investments and exercising shareholder rights. The proposal, which was unveiled Oct. 13...

November 1, 2021
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October 2021
25Oct

UK. FCA creates LTAF, a new investment fund for pension schemes and specialized investors

Sophisticated investors and pension funds are among those who will have access to new types of investment opportunities following changes made by the FCA. The FCA has confirmed that it will be taking forward proposals to create a new type of open-ended authorised investment fund which will help support investment in assets like infrastructure and private equity. Investment in these assets has the potential to generate better returns for investors, including those saving for retirement in defined contribution (DC) pension...

October 25, 2021
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21Oct

UK financial regulator faces probe over pension advice scandal

The UK’s financial regulator is to be investigated by the parliamentary spending watchdog over its handling of a multimillion pound pension scandal which has left thousands of steelworkers facing retirement losses. Read also UK. 39% of DC schemes failing to take account of ESG in default strategies The National Audit Office on Wednesday announced a probe into the Financial Conduct Authority’s activities in relation to the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS), dating back to 2017. Read also UK. Survey highlights lack of...

October 21, 2021
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21Oct

Ghana. NPRA to target informal sector as it holds Pensions Week in Western Region

Mr Stanley Ogoe, Western Regional Director of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has hinted that the Authority is taking steps to enlighten the informal sector workers on the benefits of having a retirement plan and becoming members of pension schemes to enable them to start their retirement plans early. He noted that workers in the informal sector so far, have shown the least interest in the 3-tier pension scheme and for that matter the NPRA was therefore encouraging workers...

October 21, 2021
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15Oct

Pensions and ESG: An Institutional and Historical Perspective

By P. Brett Hammond & Amy O'Brien Sustainable investing is growing into its moment. Funded pensions, which were among the first institutions to respond to sustainability concerns, are showing renewed interest in better ways to reflect responsible investing objectives, along with regulators, asset managers and shareholder groups. Looking back, the principal elements of sustainability—environmental, social and governance (ESG)—all have different origins and took different pathways. Looking across, sustainable investing developed differently depending on region and country. Viewing it today, we...

October 15, 2021
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14Oct

U.S. Labor Department proposes counter rule to Trump-era investment measures

The U.S. Department of Labor on Wednesday proposed a rule aimed to override a pair of Trump-era measures that had barred retirement and pension plans from considering climate change and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors when they select investments. Read also U.S. Labor Department proposes counter rule to Trump-era investment measures The DOL proposal, which is subject to a 60-comment period before it can be adopted, comes after the agency in March said it would not enforce the 2020...

October 14, 2021
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14Oct

Hong Kong government proposal for residents to convert pensions into annuities ‘absurd’ if made mandatory, labour minister says

A Hong Kong government proposal to encourage residents to convert their pensions into annuities would be “absurd” if made mandatory, the city’s labour minister said on Thursday. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said that while studying the proposal was necessary, making it mandatory to convert Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) pension plans into annuities was never going to happen in Hong Kong. “If anyone just thought about it, forcing everyone in Hong Kong to switch to an annuity is absurd,...

October 14, 2021
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11Oct

Sustainable investment ‘rebooting’ Europe’s private markets, research finds

The rise in demand for sustainable investments is driving a “structural reboot” of private market investing in Europe, with environmental, social and governance funds on track to account for up to two-fifths of the industry’s assets in just a few years. According to research from PwC, ESG private market assets could hit between €775.7bn and €1.2tn by 2025, up from €253bn in 2020, as regulation and client demand force an overhaul of private equity, real estate, infrastructure and private debt...

October 11, 2021
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11Oct

AFM: Dutch pension funds urged to speed up SFDR implementation

Dutch pension funds must speed up the implementation of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), according to financial market regulator AFM. But for the time being, compliance will not yet rigidly be enforced, said AFM director Laura van Geest. “The pension sector is less far in implementing the SFDR than the asset management sector since many pension funds have chosen to [temporarily] opt-out of the SFDR,” Van Geest said, speaking at the annual congress of trade publication Pensioen Pro. Most of...

October 11, 2021
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September 2021
30Sep

Should regulators take the lead on ESG in pensions?

The extent to which financial regulators should get involved in setting environmental, social and governance requirements is a hot topic, with some experts arguing that involvement could stifle innovation. In a recent twitter poll, Pensions Expert asked its readers whether or not regulators should take the lead on ESG within asset management. The result reflected how divisive the issue is in the industry. The poll revealed 53.6 per cent of respondents felt regulators should intervene to meet demand for standardisation across...

September 30, 2021
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