Nest, the largest workplace pension in the UK, says that private credit managers who prioritise institutional clients will be more favourably viewed. The £61 billion ($82 billion) fund has awarded a £450 million ($605 million) US direct lending mandate to Crescent Capital this month, citing the manager's institutional-client-first approach as a key attraction.
In the past few years the £34-billion ($54.7 billion) Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has substantially diversified its asset allocation, including a large alternatives allocation, and extended its investment team from 65 to 105. In the latest chapter of the fund’s investment department reincarnation, from October this year a separate but fully owned USS company, USS
France’s Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) has just provided fresh ammunition for critics who say the state-backed investor distorts markets by acting as the “armed wing” of the French finance ministry. On October 17, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault unveiled a new public investment bank, jointly owned by the CDC and the government, to lend
Success stories at pension funds are a real rarity in crisis-ravaged Europe, with deficits hampering countless major international firms. The CHF16.9-billion ($18.1-billion) pension fund of Swiss supermarket cooperative, Migros, is firmly in the blessed minority of funds enjoying rude health. Migros Pensionskasse was even able to boost its surplus to $1.3 billion in 2011 while
The London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA), among the largest of the United Kingdom’s Local Government Pension Schemes, is spearheading a bold idea. The £4.2-billion ($6.74-billion) scheme is pushing the notion of combining with London’s other 34 local authority funds into a single, giant scheme. The $32.13-billion superfund would pack more punch as a single investor,
Received financial wisdom holds that the price of virtue for ethical investors is lower returns. It all depends on the time frame, argues Tom Joy, director of investment for Britain’s Church Commissioners, who manage the Church of England’s £5.2-billion ($8.38 billion) pension fund. The Church Commissioners, as fund managers who are ultimately accountable to God,
For many years Japan has been an insurance-market behemoth and Japan Post Insurance Company is one of the giants with $1.13 trillion. But the industry has not been immune to change. Between 1997 and 2001 seven life insurance companies became insolvent, and there is a question mark over whether it was a low interest-rate environment
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