March 2022
09Mar

UK. Pension Protection Fund pulls out of Russia

The Pension Protection Fund will eliminate its negligible exposure to Russian assets when liquidity in the market improves, it has announced. Pension schemes have raced to freeze investments and divest from Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February, drawing international condemnation and widespread boycotts. Schemes, for the time being, appear limited to stating an intention to move out of Russia, given a complete lack of liquidity in Russian assets. The Moscow Stock Exchange closed on February 28, while the Russian government has...

March 9, 2022
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09Mar

UK pension funds increasingly look into impact investing

UK pension schemes seem to be taking impact investing increasingly into consideration, more specifically social infrastructure and affordable housing. According to a survey conducted by Pensions for Purpose and sponsored by Big Society Capital researching UK pension funds with total assets under management of around £150bn (€180bn), more than 50% of schemes hold some form of impact investment which focuses on positive social or environmental outcomes as well as financial returns. It also shows that 90% of respondents are looking to...

March 9, 2022
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08Mar

U.K. pension regulator calls for vigilance over Russia risks

U.K. pension fund trustees should be "vigilant" about how the Russian invasion of Ukraine and resulting sanctions might affect them, The Pensions Regulator cautioned in a March 4 guidance. TPR recognized that some trustees and their advisers have already been reviewing their exposure risks, and set expectations for those reviews. "We expect you to be vigilant and talk to your advisers about any action which you may need to take, depending on your scheme's investment, risk management or employer covenant exposures,"...

March 8, 2022
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UK pension funding levels prove resilient in February despite the crisis in Ukraine
08Mar

UK pension funding levels prove resilient in February despite the crisis in Ukraine

UK pension funding levels prove resilient in February despite the crisis in Ukraine XPS's DB:UK funding tracker reveals that total scheme assets fell by £25bn over the month to 28 February 2022 reflecting the significant impact on global markets of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. UK pension scheme deficits against long-term funding targets increased relatively modestly by £7bn over the month to 28 February 2022. Liabilities fell as gilt yields continued to rise for the first half of February after the Bank...

March 8, 2022
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07Mar

IMF Sees ‘Severe Impact’ on Global Economy From War, Sanctions

The International Monetary Fund warned Russia’s war with Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions imposed upon President Vladimir Putin’s country will have a “severe impact” on the global economy. “While the situation remains highly fluid and the outlook is subject to extraordinary uncertainty, the economic consequences are already very serious,” the Washington-based lender said in a statement on Saturday. Food and energy prices have surged in recent days and supply chains have frayed, adding to the inflationary pressures that policy makers were...

March 7, 2022
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More U.K., European investors move away from Russia
04Mar

More U.K., European investors move away from Russia

Asset owners and managers across the U.K. and Europe continued moving away from Russian investments following the invasion of Ukraine. The Swedish Pensions Agency on Monday placed an immediate ban on purchasing Russian funds. "We are stopping the possibility of buying the funds that focus most heavily on investments in Russia. This is done to protect pension savers," said Erik Fransson, head of fund management for the SPA, in a news release. SPA has 2.1 trillion (232 billion) Swedish kronor...

March 4, 2022
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‘ESG is too important to ignore’: What a shift to green investments means for your pensions
03Mar

‘ESG is too important to ignore’: What a shift to green investments means for your pensions

Pension schemes are being used to hit long-term Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals, which experts say may put your savings at risk. Pension schemes in the UK contain over £2.5trn of wealth, and the industry is considered a key part of the shift towards clean energy, according to the Government. It says pension schemes include the “largest single group of institutional investors in the UK, with significant influence over the flow of investments in the economy.” Coupled with their long-term investment...

March 3, 2022
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02Mar

UK firms rush to dump Russian assets amid efforts to isolate Moscow

British firms are scrambling to dump Russian assets amid efforts by the US, EU and UK governments to deepen Moscow’s economic isolation after the invasion of Ukraine. Read also More U.K., European investors move away from Russia Legal & General, Abrdn and state-backed pension scheme Nest have said they will try to sell their holdings in Russian stocks, while British Gas owner Centrica on Tuesday became the third big British energy firm to cut ties with Russia within a week, echoing...

March 2, 2022
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February 2022
24Feb

UK. Auto-enrolment contribution rates need to rise to 12%, expert tells MPs

Auto-enrolment contributions need to rise to 12 per cent of earnings from the current 8 per cent, but this change should not be rushed through, MPs have been told. Speaking to the work and pensions committee this morning (February 23), Nigel Peaple, director of policy and advocacy at the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association, said auto-enrolment pensions “work really well”, while the voluntary saving side simply “hasn't come through”. “We believe the answer is to increase the automatic enrolment contributions,” said...

February 24, 2022
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23Feb

US. Retirement savings hit record rates despite great resignation

Despite the ups and downs of the labor market, one thing has held steady: employees’ commitment to funding their retirement accounts. Fidelity revealed record rates of retirement savings during 2021 in their latest trend report. Their data showed that the average 401(k) account balance was a record high of $130,700, and 40% of savers actually increased their account contributions last year. Read also United States: Shareholder Activism Or Divestment? The Massachusetts Pension Fund Chooses Activism “Investors continued to stay focused on the...

February 23, 2022
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