Investing hybrid or armed wing of ministry?

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 … Read more

Push the reset button on pension funds

The global economy is on life support and the best that can be expected for the next five to 10 years is to get out of the intensive care unit but not off the critical list. Slow growth, low interest rates, serious unemployment levels, marginalised activity in the growing informal sector, sovereignty as a defensive … Read more

Defined benefit thrives at Migros

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 … Read more

Klinck: we don’t need any more product

The investment and pension industry has created too much complexity and added too many costs, and must move towards more simplicity, executive vice president and member of the management committee of State Street, Jack Klinck, told delegates in an opening address at the Fiduciary Investors Symposium in Santa Monica. Klinck observed four mega trends in … Read more

LPFA drives single mammoth UK fund

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, … Read more