Transparency is an important link in improving pension delivery, and the Global Pension Transparency Benchmark will help lift transparency standards and ultimately trust in pension institutions, according to its advisory board.
The CalPERS board is considering whether to require a new CIO to transfer all of their personal stock holdings into a blind trust while they are a CalPERS' employee. The move follows the resignation of Ben Meng as CIO last year after an ethics investigation related to some of his personal investments.
Earlier this month the Australian fund, Rest, settled a case with one of its members, Mark McVeigh, who claimed the fund breached its duty by not properly considering the risks posed by climate change. Here, McVeigh's lawyers write exclusively for Top1000funds.com and explain the significance of the case for pension funds around the globe.
Assessing, managing and changing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is set to become the data issue of the 2020s, as asset owners turn their attention to the power they have to advocate for change in the companies they invest in, and the firms that manage their money.
A new Global Pension Transparency Benchmark – the first formal collaboration between Top1000funds.com and CEM Benchmarking - will launch in February 2021 ranking countries, via their underlying pension funds, on four factors: governance and organization; performance; costs; and responsible investing.
The Canadian model, revered world over for its supreme pension management, is not low cost despite that being one of its oft-described traits. New research by CEM Benchmarking and McGill University shows that these funds are cost efficient, rather than being low cost. Their aim is to be high net performers, not low cost.
Responsible investors need to take into account how fund management and investment structures may be exacerbating wealth and income disparities, as well as systemic market risk. Raphaele Chappe and Delilah Rothenberg from the Predistribution Initiative have some suggestions for how PE could be adjusted in this regard and how building back better post-COVID-19 requires a more thoughtful model.