All Opinion Pieces articles – Page 8
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Climate change action is failing
Recent research showed that around two in three respondents in financial organisations did not believe their own climate promises could be kept in time
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Breaking the banks
Pension funds should ally themselves with activist investors to break up the hegemony of large banks
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Opinion PiecesHarnessing the power of corporate governance
Pension funds and other institutional asset owners have significant influence when it comes to voting in companies’ annual general meetings (AGMs). The consequences of their voting decisions can have a profound impact on company share prices and long-term objectives, especially in the context of climate change.
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Opinion PiecesCapital competition: where does it leave sustainability goals?
For pension funds and other similar large institutional pools of capital, there is significant pressure from politicians to invest in politically favoured domestic sectors – like renewables or high-growth sectors like venture capital.
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Opinion PiecesGuest viewpoint: Green bonds require better coordination for real impact
Worth approximately $128.3trn (€117trn), the global bond market could add billions to the global effort to reach the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs). Yet only a fraction of the market currently consists of green, social and sustainability (GSS) bonds, and of that very little is being issued in developing countries. In 2022, annual GSS bond issuances stood at under 10% of overall bonds and only 13% of them came from entities in developing countries, a number that dwindles to around 5% when excluding issuers from China.
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Opinion PiecesLessons learned from Berlusconi’s pension reforms
To some, the death of Silvio Berlusconi on 12 June this year, is the end of an era for Italian politics. Berlusconi was the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the republic and a highly controversial figure, at home and abroad. He can be described as the first modern European populist leader.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from Australia: Retail funds lured by private markets
Australia’s retail funds are trying to navigate the unfamiliar terrain of private markets as they seek to lift their performance.
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Opinion PiecesLetter from US: Annuities move into the US market
Three of the largest players in the US pension industry are launching new products that offer annuities as a retirement savings distribution option. Millions of Americans will soon have access to pension-like investments in their 401(k) plans thanks to BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, and State Street Global Advisors. The other large player in the US market, Vanguard, will not take part in this new trend.
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Opinion PiecesNotes from the Nordics: NBIM still learning on equal pay after winning employment case
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has hailed the benefits of litigation abroad to drive its corporate governance agenda. Closer to home, victory in an Oslo employment case may have rung decidedly hollow for Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM).
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: UK defined contribution market
Many investors nearing retirement are unable or unwilling to take on the volatility associated with a more aggressive portfolio
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: The carbon credit conundrum – a new approach
The goal of linking verifiable carbon mitigation and nature restoration with a financial return has long been the holy grail for climate-aware investors
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Fee transparency – it’s good for managers too, but they probably won’t believe it
Asset managers are still not properly able to represent the true and comparative value-for-money they provide
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Opinion PiecesUS: state enrolment systems gain traction
There are signs that the US state-facilitated retirement savings plans are starting to have a positive impact on both the creation and uptake of private pension plans.
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Opinion PiecesGuest viewpoint: Standardised data on diversity and inclusion will help team development
Promoting inclusiveness and diversity in organisations is key to discovering their human capital potential. But fostering a culture of continuous improvement is critical if this is to be fully realised.
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Opinion PiecesDo not blame institutions for taking risks
Alecta, the SEK1.19trn (€105bn) institution that manages the Swedish ITP private-sector pension scheme, is being probed by Swedish regulators for the €1.9bn capital loss it experienced earlier this year, as the three US regional banks it invested in – Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank – collapsed. The institution reacted by firing its influential CEO Magnus Billing.
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Opinion PiecesBetter the equity market devil you know?
Being a large equity investor in a relatively small domestic market can have advantages as well as drawbacks. Proximity to the market and its infrastructure, good knowledge of corporates and corporate leaders, and the ability to exercise strong influence as an owner, potentially a stable long-term one, all count among the advantages. The need to avoid concentration – in terms of position, sizing and overall allocations – and idiosyncratic sector exposure are among the challenges.
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Opinion PiecesGerman pensions sector backs cost rethink
Applause, which started mildly but ended robustly, suddenly reverberated in a packed Berlin conference room a few weeks ago. An audience of industry experts, pension managers, associations and trade unions clapped at the suggestion that Germany’s BaFin regulator should avoid repeating its exercise on cost reporting for IORPs, initiated by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and implemented in turn by BaFin. The exercise was a disappointment, and an excessive, unnecessary effort for the German pension industry.
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Opinion PiecesAustralia: volatility stirs valuations debate
As a disconnect in the valuation of listed and unlisted assets widens in today’s volatile markets, the torchlight is again being trained on Australia’s guardians of retirement savings.
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Opinion PiecesCarbon reduction: absolute goals, please
Dutch healthcare scheme PFZW last month reluctantly changed its 50% CO2 reduction target for 2030 from a relative to an absolute target, following in the footsteps of fellow Dutch pension funds ABP and PME. The fund cited the “negative sentiment” around relative targets as a reason for its change of heart.
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Australian-style reforms can unlock green growth and boost pension performance
Rewriting UK pension rules could unlock green growth, directing much-needed investment into sustainable infrastructure
