The Netherlands' Central Bank has warned the country's pension funds that their €150 billion ($177 billion) investments in tech companies, representing almost 43 per cent of their listed equities portfolios and 8 per cent of their total balance sheet, is at risk from a potential AI bubble.
Under strict ESG guidelines and pressure to closely engage with their investee companies, Dutch pension funds have developed an affinity for concentrated equity allocations with some owning as few as 65 stocks in their entire portfolio. But the Erasmus University flagged the diversification risk and higher volatility the strategy introduces.
Singapore's GIC boosted its US equities allocation in the year to March 2025 despite the expectation that high valuations could "provide a challenging backdrop for forward returns”, according to the fund's latest annual report released on Friday.
In a recent board meeting, University of Texas Investment Management Co's head Rich Hall explained why he is concerned about corporate earnings' impact on equity returns. He also warned that as consumer and company spending slows, a recession can become self-fulfilling until new facts emerge to break the pattern.
Nordic pension giant the Swedish Fund Selection Agency (FTN) is on the hunt for active Swedish and European small cap equity managers in a SEK 46 billion ($4.6 billion) tender. It comes as asset owners revisit small cap strategies as a useful diversification from US mega cap equities.
Norway's NBIM is looking to allocate several mandates to single-country and regional long/short equity strategies in Australia, Japan, Europe, and the US. Top1000funds.com examines the growing investor interest in these strategies as market volatility and stock dispersion create fresh opportunities for active managers.
Malaysia's $34 billion Khazanah Nasional has been increasing its public and private equity exposure to developed markets for the past eight years. CIO Hisham Hamdan chats about the journey and the pivot away from the fund's traditionally emerging markets focus.
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