All asset allocation articles – Page 8

  • News

    DB funding pressure rises but scheme closures plateau

    2015-12-03T00:00:00Z

    Data Analysis: The aggregate funding level of UK defined benefit schemes has deteriorated again despite asset allocation trends moving towards lower-risk investments, but the number of schemes open to new members has stayed level.

  • Madeline Forrester
    Opinion

    How underpricing political risk could hit pension funds

    2015-11-23T00:00:00Z

    Grexit and the Brexit are just two of the economic risks facing the UK's pension funds today, and their potential impact should not be discounted.

  • Features

    Long-term view clouded by uncertainty for LGPS

    2015-10-23T00:00:00Z

    Long-term risk-reduction planning remains the priority for the Local Government Pension Scheme, but growing uncertainty about the future is making it difficult for member funds to carve out strategic objectives.

  • Opinion

    What fixed income ETFs can bring to your portfolio

    2015-10-11T00:00:00Z

    Investors in fixed income markets are having to deal with persistently low or even negative yields, the potential for increased volatility – such as recent worries about China – and a lack of clarity over when the US Federal Reserve will start raising rates.

  • Getty Images
    Features

    Greenwich charts course to diversified alternatives

    2015-09-11T00:00:00Z

    A radical change in investment strategy is underway at the Royal Borough of Greenwich Pension Fund, as it introduces new asset buckets for diversified alternatives and multi-asset strategies.

  • John St Hill
    Opinion

    A decade on: The evolution of the PPF

    2015-08-11T00:00:00Z

    Talking Head: This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Pension Protection Fund and the evolution from a start-up with no invested assets and two external fund managers, to an organisation with 225,597 members, £22.6bn of assets and around 70 fund managers.

  • Opinion

    Scheme hunger for alts drives fragmentation and innovation

    2015-07-24T00:00:00Z

    From the blog: Scheme maturity as well as changes to regulations and accounting rules have been the driving factors behind portfolio diversification over the past 50 years, boosting pension scheme appetite for alternatives and overseas investments.

  • News

    Environment Agency fund shares five-point ESG selection test

    2015-07-03T00:00:00Z

    Environment Agency Pension Fund has detailed the five-point criteria it uses to assess managers for its responsible investments, as it awards £180m to a global sustainable equity mandate.

  • Opinion

    How will the DGF market develop over the coming year?

    2015-06-23T00:00:00Z

    Roundtable: LCP's Andy Cheseldine, Legal & General Investment Management's Martin Dietz, Columbia Threadneedle's Craig Nowrie, State Street Global Advisers' Andrew Soper, Peter Sparkes of the Association of Member Nominated Trustees, and Bestrustees' Graham Wardle, discuss what the next 12 months will hold for diversified growth funds, in the final part of this series.

  • Barry Kenneth
    Opinion

    How the pensions lifeboat is steering towards its 2030 funding target

    2015-05-22T00:00:00Z

    The Pension Protection Fund has set a clear target to be self-sufficient by 2030. Informed by our long-term risk model measuring our progress, this gives us a road map that helps us to make decisions about the levy and how we invest our assets.

  • Opinion

    Editorial: Navigating risk and reward

    2015-05-18T00:00:00Z

    The term ‘low-yield environment’, which once struck fear into the hearts of scheme trustees tackling deficits, has all but got its feet under the table. We are almost, but not quite, at home with the reality, like the in-laws who came for two weeks but ended up staying for six months.

  • Opinion

    Global equities survey – part two

    2015-05-03T00:00:00Z

    All good things must come to an end and there is growing concern among global fund managers that the recent run of good fortune from equity markets is starting to wane.

  • Opinion

    What we can learn from how £1bn-plus schemes control costs

    2015-04-20T00:00:00Z

    The future for final salary pension provision looks bleak. So goes the rhetoric: benefit rules, EU legislation, the Pension Protection Fund levy and more, have been blamed for increasing costs and hammering that final nail in the defined benefit coffin.

  • Opinion

    Nest: How schemes can tackle home bias with global equities

    2015-04-12T00:00:00Z

    Sticking close to home can sometimes be a perfectly sensible thing to do. But when it comes to equities, adopting automatic positions that place a large amount of scheme members’ portfolios in the UK exposes them to risks.

  • News

    Lloyds scheme turns to alt credit as it shrinks equity risk

    2015-02-19T00:00:00Z

    Lloyds Bank’s larger defined benefit pension fund has ditched a proportion of its equity holdings in favour of credit and hedge fund strategies, as pension funds widen their search for diversified sources of return.

  • Opinion

    Are you letting silos dominate your investment portfolio?

    2015-02-02T00:00:00Z

    Any other business: Traders in the City’s investment banks sit for hours executing fixed income or equity trades but will rarely cross the floor to speak to the desk of another asset class.

  • News

    Shipbuilding scheme sails towards 10% property allocation

    2015-01-23T00:00:00Z

    The Shipbuilding Industries Pension Scheme plans to boost its property allocation to around a tenth of its overall portfolio in its hunt for diversification, capital preservation and income.

  • News

    How the slump in oil prices is hitting schemes

    2015-01-22T00:00:00Z

    As oil prices fall below $50 (£33) a barrel, investment experts have urged pension schemes to seize the opportunity to hedge their liabilities against inflation and heed the impact on their commodity markets exposure.

  • Opinion

    How global events hit your pension fund

    2014-11-07T00:00:00Z

    Despite many months of turbulent news stories – the continuing advance of Islamic State, pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong and the spread of Ebola – the markets failed to react to this increased uncertainty until last month.

  • News

    Warwickshire latest to dump fund after star manager departure

    2014-09-24T00:00:00Z

    Warwickshire County Council Pension Fund has revealed it sold its assets in Baring Asset Management’s dynamic asset allocation strategy earlier this year due to the departure of the product’s manager.