Liquidity premium escapes UK investors

  UK pension funds have not taking advantage of their comparative advantage as long-term investors and have not earned a positive long-run liquidity premium on their investments, according to a paper from the Cass Business School that examines UK pension funds’ monthly allocations to major asset classes over the period 1987-2012. The authors – David … Read more

A sustainable financial system on the agenda at Davos

The United Nations Environment Programme’s Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System will present its interim report in Davos this week. The report has been initiated to advance policy options to improve the financial system’s effectiveness in mobilising capital towards a green and inclusive economy, and the interim report profiles innovations in five … Read more

Optimal long-term allocation with pension fund liabilities

The literature on how to optimally manage the investments of defined contribution funds is relatively scarce, despite the fact the growth in defined contribution continues to outpace defined benefit funds globally. Now new research from academics at the University of Lausanne demonstrates how to perform an ALM study from a financial prospective for defined contribution … Read more

Do pension funds add value?

Asset owners, on average, add 15 basis points of value above their asset class benchmarks after fees, according to an extensive study by CEM Benchmarking. The survey, which measured 6,666 data points from a global set of defined benefit plans, and some sovereign wealth funds and buffer funds, from 1992-2013. Gross of investment fees, funds … Read more

OECD calls for policy solution to long term investing barriers

Governance of institutional investors and the lengthening investment chain causing  bigger distances between assets’ beneficial owners and those involved in executing investment strategies was one of three practical issues raised by the OECD general secretary as a barrier to more investment in long-term investing financing. Speaking at the OECD Project on Institutional Investors and Long-term … Read more

2015 could be watershed year for ESG issues

2015 is poised to be the turning point as a number of key issues relating to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues take centre stage says Fiona Reynolds, managing director of the Principles for Responsible Investment.   First and foremost is climate change. With the Paris talks scheduled for December 2015, it’s an issue that … Read more