Despite global pension markets’ varying levels of maturity, the goal of combining portfolio resilience with meeting fund objectives is the same, and it can be achieved through different manifestations of governance structures.
For asset owners to stay the course of a long-term investing view, not only do their investment teams need to be behind the objective, but also their board and external managers. Or investors might find themselves fighting an uphill battle in a market where short-termism is prevalent.
Much can be said about Canada’s so-called Maple 8 funds and their pension models, which have provided stellar learning materials for the rest of the world, but OMERS chief executive Blake Hutcheson questioned whether bundling them all together is appropriate.
If managers want to reinforce their long-term investor bona fides they should adopt appropriate time horizons for investments they make, disclose more about asset holding duration, and reconsider paying themselves based on short-term results. Only then will the interests of asset owners and the managers they employ be truly aligned.
Investors who are looking to build portfolio resilience better get their team on the same page first about the underlying investment objectives in play, said Bridgewater co-CIO Karen Karniol-Tambour at the Fiduciary Investors Symposium.
The investment path to net zero may not always be clear. With no dedicated asset class and shifting risk profiles for energy transition-critical assets, the Fiduciary Investors Symposium heard that asset owners need to be flexible and ready to creatively make room in their portfolios when the right opportunities arise.
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FIS Toronto 2024