All Pensions articles – Page 3
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White papersDon’t let the yield curve flatten your liability-driven investing (LDI) portfolio
The Treasury yield curve’s long end is unusually flat & may steepen. This may be favorable for many liability-driven investing (LDI) portfolios, for now. However, here’s why LDI curve positioning should be monitored over time.
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White papersStop blaming everything on pension funds
UK pension funds have been blamed for a number of woes affecting the UK’s financial fortunes. However, the suggestion that these could be solved by the wave of a regulatory wand is misguided.
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White papersFrance: The pension reform puts politics under strain, but major instability unlikely
In the National Assembly (lower house), the centrist alliance Ensemble (Renaissance, Modem, Horizons) represents 250 deputies, which is not enough to obtain an absolute majority (287). The absolute majority (289 votes in normal circumstances) is currently 287 because four seats remain unfilled.
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White papersCan UK pension funds improve de-risking by rethinking growth?
Surging rates served only one of three major shocks to UK pension funds in 2022. Add a chronic liquidity squeeze and rebalancing challenges amid asset drawdowns, and there is little wonder why many are focusing on adjusting their low-risk portfolios as they seek to de-risk. But rethinking growth exposures to embed liquidity, diversification and resilience can help smooth this journey, in our view.
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White papersNotes from the Road: Inflation, Private Assets and a Cautious Consensus
The beginning of the year always offers a chance to catch up with a broad range of clients who are in the mode of thinking about the big picture outlook: pension funds, insurers, consultants and sovereign wealth funds across Australia, Asia, Europe and North America. This note reflects on the key issues that clients have wanted to talk about in the early months of this year. Collectively, these topics give us a picture of what’s on investors’ minds.
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White papersPensions Watch | Issue 24: What’s been happening and what’s on the Horizon in the world of pensions
With the inexorable rise of Defined Contribution (DC) schemes and the continued closure of Defined Benefit (DB) schemes to new members and future accrual, suggestions that DB is dead are ever present. However, with funded DB schemes accounting for around 80% of UK pension assets, most of which are not going to buyout just yet, DB is very much alive and kicking.
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White papersPensions Watch 23: What’s been happening and what’s on the horizon in the world of pensions
The annual revision to the PLSA’s retirement living standards has seen double digit increases to each of its illustrative expenditures in retirement. This suggests that, without urgent reform, many DC savers will continue to sleepwalk into retirement penury.
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White papersCurrency hedging policy for institutions
“Investors should focus on currencies as a potential source of return and risk diversification for a portfolio.”
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White papersPensions investment outlook 2023: New realities, big decisions
Pension fund investors have endured a roller coaster two years. After a strong 2021, 2022 saw record losses on sovereign bonds and a major correction in equities.
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White papersFiorino: Leverage will tear us apart, again
Fiorino charts the gravitationally risky path of the UK pension system after it veered dangerously close to the point of implosion.
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White papersAmundi Pension Funds Letter n°16
December, the month where festive end-of-year preparations and celebrations shift into top gear, just as commentators become busy reflecting on the past year and making predictions for the next.
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White papersPension funds: reorienting asset allocation in an inflation-fuelled world
After a prolonged era of cheap money and double-digit returns, the sharp spike in inflation to its 40-year high in 2022 was a game changer.
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White papersPensions Watch | Issue 22: What’s been happening and what’s on the horizon in the world of pensions
Given the ever-greater regularity of unanticipated impactful events with equally unpredictable tipping points, we look at the importance to pension scheme fiduciaries of risk management. In particular, we consider the need for both more inventive scenario analysis and stress testing of schemes’ resilience against a multitude of ever-present and emerging risks allied to more nimble governance.
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White papersWhat does the UK’s LDI shock say about leverage and liquidity?
In the latest instalment of Simply put, where we make macro calls with a multi-asset perspective, we examine the factors behind the recent LDI market shock in the UK and consider whether these risks can be alleviated going forward.
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White papersAmundi Pension Funds Letter - Special Edition: UK LDI Crisis
Given the yield increases at the announcement of the UK accommodative mini-budget a week ago, pension schemes suffered a massive liquidity crisis related to their leveraged LDI strategies. This drove the Bank of England to temporarily halt Quantitative Tightening.
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White papersThe impact of credit risk for pension plans engaging with CDI
Cashflow-driven investing (CDI) has gained significant traction in recent years as pension plans have successfully de-risked and strengthened their balance sheets over the last decade. Increasing numbers of plans are able to allocate significant proportions (potentially all of their assets) to fixed income like assets so that cashflow income closely matches expected liability payment, thus providing a simpler hedge and reducing the complexity of portfolios. Investment products, strategies and asset classes have developed to facilitate this approach.
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White papersAmundi Pension Funds Letter n°15
As holidaymakers resume their familiar summer breaks and crowds return to the Champs-Elysées to cheer on the final stage of the 2022 Tour de France, elsewhere established customs and trends seem less secure. One could say that this period of transition has been ongoing for some time. But in 2022, a new phase clearly unfolded, one unique to our times, but at the same time also hugely familiar. A phase where everything takes on a geopolitical slant.
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White papersA well-founded pension fund uptake in central clearing
Pension funds play an important role in the financial industry and the lives of European pensioners. Regulatory changes such as the mandatory clearing of over-the-counter financial instruments (OTC IRS) and the increase in capital requirements for banks pose major challenges for European pension funds.
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White papersAre pension funds set to flex their financial muscle in climate fight?
Pension allocations to climate funds - including in the private assets sphere - are likely to increase dramatically, with potentially vital consequences in the real world.
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PodcastThe Accidental Plan Sponsor Podcast - S.2 EP.2: The Down Under Edition
Here’s what you need to know about Australia’s Retirement System: It’s really big. It’s government mandated. It’s privately run. It’s really sophisticated.
