The outperformance of APAC equities in 2025 has reignited interest among asset owners in allocating towards the region, but Franklin Templeton's investment strategist Christy Tan argues the investment case for APAC has shifted from a tactical to a structural buy. She unpacks the reasoning in conversation with Top1000funds.com Asia Pacific correspondent Darcy Song.
CalSTRS has been a leading light in ESG integration in the US but its board has been slow to adopt a net zero pledge, with internal debate centred around the most motivating factors to achieve net zero. Now it’s made the pledge it will spend the next 12 months mapping the path to achieve net zero. Amanda White spoke to head of sustainability, Kirsty Jenkinson.
UK pension scheme NEST’s first foray into private equity offers hope for investors looking beyond standard operating models in the asset class. The £20 billion defined contribution fund, currently sifting through 60-odd procurement responses to allocate more than £1 billion at the beginning of next year, is quietly confident it will be able to hammer out a deal with GPs to make the expensive asset class known for 2:20 fees affordable.
Absolute return strategies are an important skeleton key to building a resilient portfolio according to Ben Samild, deputy chief investment officer, portfolio strategy at the Future Fund.
The climate challenge requires new investment on a staggering scale: new generating capacity, the electrification of everything, emissions-free fuel, carbon capture and sequestration, new supply chains and infrastructure, plus the building of negative emissions technologies. Stanford’s Dr Arun Majumdar explores the opportunities for new investment, the risk return trade-off and how investors should approach the opportunities.
Mass PRIM is involved in an MIT initiative to improve ESG with better data, ratings and ultimately products. Executive director and CIO, Michael Trotsky, explains how the ambiguity around ESG ratings creates acute challenges for investors trying to achieve both financial and social return.
Scenario analysis shows that the ability of pension funds to pay their pensions will be severely impacted by climate. But a discussion between asset owners at Sustainability in Practice revealed the challenges in the process.
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