Plastic production is projected to triple by 2050, yet only 14 per cent of plastic packaging is now collected for recycling. Consumers are beginning to reject the use of single use plastic and if this continues the financial impacts could be significant. So what is the role of asset owners in bringing this to light?
Industrial group UTC and global real estate manager AEW have structured a joint-venture investing in value-add real estate. In a relationship forged on trust and friendship, the allocation has grown to become the corporate pension fund’s best performing asset class.
Almost exactly 30 years ago, a famous article by Michael Jensen in the Harvard Business Review predicted that private equity would “eclipse” the public corporation because it was a superior form of corporate ownership. Academics at Oxford’s Said Business School examine whether this prediction has played out.
The €9.5 billion DanishPædagogernes Pension, PBU, is in the process of consolidating the number of managers in its listed equity portfolio. The decision at the fund – which has around 10 large, focused equity mandates – is linked to an ambition to reduce the number of companies in the portfolio in the belief that fewer companies in the 42 per cent actively-managed equity allocation allows greater ESG oversight.
The PRI will announce the winners of its inaugural awards at the PRI in Person in Paris in September. The awards are one of two new initiatives aimed at showcasing leadership and increasing accountability as part of its Blueprint for responsible investment.
US companies have some defensible profitability advantages but elevated margin levels may be poised for a reversal of fortune. The tide appears to be turning on some of the secular trends that have supported high US profit margins.
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