Taking the future into account

At the International Centre for Pension Management’s biannual meeting in London, Jack Gray and Generation’s David Blood had a tête à tête on sustainability. An academic at the Paul Woolley Centre for Capital Market Dysfunctionality at the University of Technology Sydney, Gray has written a paper, Misadventures of an Irresponsible Investor, that at its core … Read more

Feathering the NEST

In the United Kingdom there are around 1.5 million employers, and it is estimated more than half of them do not offer a pension to their employees. The pension system in the UK is fragmented. There are more than 10,000 mostly defined-benefit plans and, unless you are a government employee or in the high-income bracket, … Read more

Kay calls for philosophical shift

In an interview with conexust1f.flywheelstaging.com, John Kay, economist and author of the UK government-commissioned enquiry into long termism and the UK equity markets, has said it is “fanciful to imagine large number of trustees will have the skills and knowledge to have long-term relationships with corporates”. Kay says the key players in the UK equity … Read more

UK equity allocation falls

Equity allocation by UK pension schemes continues to fall, but the assets are being re-allocated into “everything else except gilts”, according to Mercer chief investment officer, Andrew Kirton. Last year equities allocations by UK pension funds fell by 5 per cent, according to Mercer, as they attempt to deal with the enormous amount of pension … Read more

Norway’s GPFG enters the property game

Last May, when Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global bought 4 per cent of the Formula One motor racing group from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners, its goal was clear. The sovereign wealth fund, which invests Norway’s oil revenues, wanted the inside track on Formula One’s IPO in Singapore, scheduled for June. Instead, the GPFG’s foray … Read more

CalSTRS considers
asset risk factors

The $152.5-billion Californian State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) is undertaking an asset-allocation review that will consider the underlying risk factors of assets for the first time. Chris Ailman, chief investment officer of CalSTRS, says the fund is in the middle of an asset-allocation study, which would likely take six months, and would take a different … Read more