All Equities articles – Page 8
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OpinionChinese equities – are investors ignoring the free lunch from diversification?
Each day brings further news of the spreading coronavirus and its impact on communities and economies. Lockdowns now affect more than one third of humanity and we wonder what may come next.
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News
Master trust members close to retirement lose 8.7% in savings
On the go: The pension savings of master trust members close to retirement are likely to have declined on average by 8.7 per cent during the first quarter of 2020, according to analysis from Isio.
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FeaturesCounting the cost of coronavirus
Counting the costof coronavirus Coronavirus and the market volatility that has greeted it has dealt a triple blow to defined benefit schemes - damaging asset values, causing wild swings in liabilities, and weakening sponsor covenant. Pensions Expert looks at which sectors will be worst hit, and what trustees can do ...
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OpinionCovid-19 – a moment of truth for active managers?
Data Crunch: Over the past few years, pension fund investment in equities has increasingly shifted away from active towards passive strategies.
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NewsCovid-19: Volatility returns to markets after UK banks scrap dividends
While UK banks suspended dividend payments amid pressure from the regulator, European markets returned to volatile conditions. Meanwhile, FTSE 350 companies’ defined benefit schemes reached an accounting surplus.
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News
USS sticks with March valuation despite battered funding level
Market volatility has seen the Universities Superannuation Scheme’s asset portfolio shed more than 13 per cent of its value and its deficit pass £11bn in recent days, triggering concerns, but as yet no action, from trustees.
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NewsCovid-19: Markets bounce back; bulk annuity prices drop
While the FTSE 100 registered the biggest one-day gain since 2008, bulk annuities seem to be significantly more affordable than they were before. At the same time, alternative assets have not seen the biggest impact yet. Read our round-up of pensions and finance news about the coronavirus outbreak.
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News
Diversification helps Nest mitigate FTSE slump
On the go: Diversification in Nest’s default funds seems to be paying off, as the government-backed workplace pension scheme has seen a decrease of 17.6 per cent since the beginning of this year, while the FTSE 100 has fallen by 34.3 per cent.
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News
Altmann calls for six-month pension transfer hiatus
On the go: Former pensions minister Ros Altmann is calling for pension transfers to be put on hold for six months, as fund values could be significantly inaccurate due to the current market turmoil.
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News
LGPS returns to drop by almost half in next decade
As the world faces global meltdown and investors are set to receive lower and more volatile returns for the next decade or more, new research suggests that some local authority pension schemes may be overestimating their potential growth.
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News
DB deficits rise £50bn as coronavirus hits markets
On the go: The aggregate deficit of the 5,422 defined benefit schemes in the Pension Protection Fund 7800 Index rose by £49.9bn in February.
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News
Coronavirus shocks DB deficit by £100bn in a week
On the go: Market turmoil stoked by fears of the Covid-19 outbreak has added £100bn to the UK’s defined benefit deficit in a week, according to Hymans Robertson analysis.
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News
Kent Council Fund recoups £139m from Woodford investment
On the go: The Kent County Council Superannuation Fund will receive £139m from its investment in Woodford Investment Management’s flagship fund, though this still leaves the scheme with a £99m shortfall.
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News
Church of England invests £600m in ESG equity fund
On the go: The Church of England Pensions Board plans to allocate £600m to a fund tracking a climate-friendly index, aiming to align its pension schemes with the goals of the Paris agreement.
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News
LGPS funds warn of fossil fuel divestment impact
On the go: Several of Britain’s top pension funds have warned about the impact of fossil fuel divestment plans, as they would have lost hundreds of millions of pounds had they sold out of oil and gas stocks.
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NewsRailways Pension Scheme deficit called into question
New calculations showing an £11bn deficit for the Railways Pension Scheme have been dismissed by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, which has promised industrial action if new measures to plug the gap are imposed without negotiation.
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OpinionLGPS: The differing approaches to investment pooling
The Local Government Pension Scheme pools are up and running more than four years after they were first mandated, yet despite being subject to the same legal requirements, the eight pools differ markedly. The characteristics of the underlying schemes have had an important influence on the pools’ use of third-party investment managers.
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News
Nest considers 1.5C target for climate change fund
Data crunch: The government-backed workplace provider Nest is testing ways to adopt a 1.5C goal for its Climate Aware Fund, to better reflect the “quickly evolving nature of climate change risk” and its impact on members’ investments.
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News
Brunel appoints managers for £2.6bn alpha equity mandate
On the go: The Brunel Pension Partnership has appointed five managers to run a £2.6bn Global High Alpha fund for its 10 Local Government Pension Scheme clients.
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News
QE is running out of steam in all markets, Amundi finds
On the go: Quantitative easing has destabilised pension finances and is at the point of reducing returns, according to research from Create-Research and asset manager Amundi.