All Pensions articles
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White papersDC and Bonds: The End of the Affair…and a New Beginning
Bonds’ traditional role in pension allocations is over. But they have a new purpose in a lifetime income strategy.
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White papersThe Patchwork of Eurozone Pension Systems and Budget Constraints
The issue of pension systems in Eurozone countries is significant because pension outlays represent a substantial portion of GDP. And an ageing population increases financing needs. At the same time, country deficits – and consequently debt – have deepened during the Covid period, including through higher interest rates.
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White papersPensions find new sources of long-term cash flows
An upside of higher rates for pension schemes is a reduction in the value of future liabilities. Many defined benefit (DB) pensions in Europe are taking advantage of this to derisk portfolios by locking-in higher-yielding, public investment grade fixed income assets, according to Nuveen’s 2024 EQuilibrium survey. This is freeing them up to explore more private investments and, in some instances, these investments are also playing into schemes’ environmental and social objectives.
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White papersPrivate markets poised to benefit from new strategic landscape
Asset managers are facing growing demand from institutional investors to develop sophisticated private market strategies that balance high long-term risk-adjusted target returns, added diversification benefits, and fundamental value creation.
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White papersPensions investment outlook 2025: US policy uncertainty clouds road ahead
The coming year will likely be characterised by three main drivers: the US’s politically driven polices; structural economic weaknesses and political uncertainty in Europe; and China’s restructuring of its troubled property market.
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White papersConsolidate with caution – Too much focus on scale could come at the expense of innovation
Last month, in an attempt to boost the UK’s growth trajectory, Rachel Reeves unveiled what she claimed was the “biggest pension reform in decades”. She reckons the UK has been regulating for risk, but not regulating for growth – a view many in the industry would agree with.
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White papersWhere will returns come from? Pensions in a new economic regime
Where will returns come from? Pensions in a new economic regime
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White papersSolid equity performances keep funding ratios on a high
Despite experiencing volatility in Q3 2024, markets demonstrated resilience with largely positive returns. The decrease in liability discounting rates in Q3 compensated these good performances, and funding ratios have been mostly stable over the period, still at comfortable levels.
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White papersEuropean Securitisations: Risk and Opportunities for Pension Funds
European Securitisations have recently attracted attention, with 2024 to date seeing record volumes of issuance since the Great Financial Crisis. European regulators have also shown strong support through several recent reports (from Noyer, Letta and Draghi), which have led to a public consultation from the European Commission. We review the opportunities and the associated risk of European securitisations for pension funds.
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White papersBeyond the Numbers: ESG in Action
As the 2024 Amundi-CREATE report highlights, the private markets asset class is particularly suitable for responsible investing. This article explores how an investor in private assets, such as Amundi Alpha Associates, can approach and refine responsible investment capabilities, as well as the practical steps taken to integrate ESG factors into their portfolio monitoring processes.
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White papersSeeking returns in private markets and emerging markets in a disruptive era
As pension investors transition to a new regime, one question has come to the fore: where will the returns come from?
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White papersPension Funds Letter 22 - New realities, new searches for returns
Amongst other things, 2024 will be remembered for being the year of elections. More voters than ever before, over half the world’s population, had the opportunity to express their vote this year. While almost all these votes have now been counted, what the different outcomes will mean both domestically and more globally is only likely to become clear next year. We wait especially with bated breath, to see how Trump 2.0 will play out around the world.
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White papersThe Scale Effect: How Size Shapes Investment Governance and Allocation
Recent years have witnessed a trend in pension plans towards larger size, as large institutions continue to gather assets and as smaller investors group together to emulate their larger peers’ perceived successes.
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White papersCharting the unpredictable: Harnessing data-driven solutions to enhance investment decision making
Pension funds, long regarded as the bedrock of long-term financial security for millions of workers worldwide, are currently navigating an increasingly tumultuous landscape. Traditionally conservative in their investment strategies, these institutions now face a confluence of challenges that demand innovative thinking and strategic foresight.
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White papersMaking sense of corporate bond spreads
Pension scheme funding ratios have improved significantly, due to a rise in yields since the start of 2022, and continued growth asset performance. This has resulted in many taking the next steps towards their chosen endgame by topping up liability hedge ratios and simultaneously increasing allocations to corporate bonds.
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White papersUK Pension Reform: The Case for Further Consolidation
How the government’s review can help to deliver portfolio diversification and enhanced risk-adjusted returns.
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White papersLifestyling: the Achilles heel in DC pensions
Why too much derisking – the accepted orthodoxy in UK defined contribution pensions – is a bad thing
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White papersOutlook 2025-2027: Resilient recovery in a challenging environment
The real estate market is recovering resiliently and new opportunities are emerging for institutional investors. However, the investment climate remains challenging. This is the conclusion of Achmea Real Estate’s Outlook 2025 - 2027, the first part of which has just been published.
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White papersEuropean ABS: A compelling tool for DC default strategies
Asset-backed securities are often a misunderstood asset class, despite having many compelling characteristics including a potential return premium and a defensive capital structure.These, in our view, make them well-suited as a tool for inclusion in defined contribution (DC) default strategies.
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White papersPrioritizing DC Plan Participant Outcomes with Private Real Estate
Most retirement plan sponsors and fiduciaries design well-thought-out, diversified portfolios for retirement plan participants. However, in comparing U.S. defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plans, we notice differences in private asset allocations, in particular, to private real estate, despite both plan types seeking to solve for the same goal: income replacement in retirement.
