More comment – Page 2
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Opinion PiecesSocial Security – the one thing Harris and Trump agree on
On one thing US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump agree: their new administration will not cut the Social Security benefits that are paid as pensions by the US Treasury’s retirement programme.
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Opinion PiecesDanish politics focuses on the good life
Pensions and the labour market were the focus of end-of-summer political pronouncements in Denmark this year. If brought into action, some of the ideas could lead to forward-thinking changes to pensions.
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Opinion PiecesAustralia's super funds emerge from regulatory shadows
Australia’s A$700bn-plus (€424bn) retail superannuation sector is starting to emerge from the shadow of its profit-to-member peers. It has been only five years since a royal commission published damning evidence of misconduct within the sector.
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Opinion PiecesInstitutional investors shouldn't be so concerned about equity market concentration
Before the August 2024 equity sell-off, the rising level of concentration in global equity markets had many investors worried for some time, and concentration may well continue to be a feature of equity markets in the near future.
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Opinion PiecesWhy we need to talk about the birthrate
If you live in a big city like London, and if you look hard enough, you are sure to find signs of a falling birthrate.
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Opinion PiecesUS court scraps SEC private equity transparency rule
The US appeals court’s decision, last June, to throw out a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule intended to give investors more transparency into private funds has sparked a heated debate.
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Opinion PiecesGerman politicians pronounce on pensions policy ahead of next year's election
With federal elections likely to be held on 28 September next year, German politicians have started to reveal ideas on pensions.
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Opinion PiecesA mid-year stock take on ESG: talk is no longer cheap
It’s halftime for 2024, which offers a convenient reason to reflect on where we are with respect to ESG investing. I’d say the outlook is pretty good. That’s because, as global equity impact investor WHEB Asset Management says, the “ESG tourists – asset managers that stampeded into the sustainability market just a few years ago – are now packing their bags” as the depth and breadth of anti-greenwashing regulation bite.
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Opinion PiecesThe buyout pendulum starts to swing back to the DB norm
Vogue fashion magazine reports that flared trousers and mullets are back after a 50-year absence. They were not a good look even then, but fashion has its own drivers which do not necessarily involve good taste or even practicalities.
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Opinion PiecesAustralia's regulator cracks down on greenwashing
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has won its first greenwashing case in a civil action against Vanguard Investments.
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Opinion PiecesWhy the green transition throws up workforce and pension challenges
Pensions are a hot topic in corporate Germany, where skills shortages and an ageing workforce have led to a war for talent, as well as a renaissance in occupational retirement provision in the fight for workforce skills.
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Opinion PiecesSwitzerland’s refreshing bottom-up approach to regulation contrasts favourably with the EU
Switzerland’s bottom-up approach to sustainable investing and ESG reporting rules seems to be travelling in the opposite direction to the path chosen by the EU.
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Opinion PiecesThe US perspective on a mixed proxy season
Opinion is divided on whether opposition to environmental and social considerations are increasing following the 2024 annual general meeting season in the US.
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Opinion PiecesItaly needs a serious debate about pensions
Italian policymakers are bent on indulging the relatively small but influential minority of Italians that is nearing retirement, but lament that the statutory retirement age of 67 is too high. The reform efforts of past years have been towards reducing the retirement age or increasing flexibility in retirement. The resources employed towards supporting second-pillar pensions have been next to none.
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Opinion PiecesEuropean elections: the necessary policy leaps to secure citizens' pensions
This month sees European parliamentary elections and by autumn a new Commission will be in place. The political outcome and the composition of the new EC will influence the future shape of what still looks like quite an aspirational capital markets union (CMU) project.
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Opinion PiecesDespite their differences, pension funds should continue to act as bold corporate stewards
This year’s voting season leaves questions about the benefits of engaging with companies in the sectors that are slowest to embrace the climate transition.
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Opinion PiecesDisagreements between Germany's coalition partners cloud occupational pensions reform
Pension reforms have taken centre stage in the latest row among the coalition partners in the German government.
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Opinion PiecesAustralian super funds push back on lacklustre energy transition proposals by corporates
Australian and global pension funds orchestrated an unusually vocal tactical campaign against the climate-transition action plan of Woodside Energy, a global oil and gas producer, in the lead-up to its 70th annual general meeting in late April.
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Opinion PiecesThe art and science of investor collaboration in the quest for effective stewardship
In the evolving landscape of sustainable investment strategies, the significance of engagement has become more pronounced in recent years. Traditionally seen as supplementary to investment processes, stewardship has transformed into an indispensable tool for achieving meaningful environmental and social change.
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Opinion PiecesWhy Norway's rebuff to oil fund over private equity is all about pay and equality
It would be hard to argue that Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is not diversified, but its range of permitted asset classes is narrower than that of peers.
