All Governance articles – Page 25
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OpinionCheck for early warning signs of pension mistakes
From the blog: It's the nightmare scenario: the Pensions Regulator is due to visit and everyone at the company is filled with dread. What's worse, it turns out they were right to be concerned.
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FeaturesBayer latest scheme to move to mastertrust
Pharmaceutical company Bayer has closed the defined contribution section of its pension plan and transferred members to a mastertrust, a move experts say has become increasingly common in recent years.
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OpinionSleeping on the job – a hazard for trustees
From the blog: The long-running dispute involving the Coats Group defined benefit schemes finally came to a conclusion last month: the Pensions Regulator’s anti-avoidance investigation into Coats resulted in a £74m settlement for the third and final DB scheme under investigation.
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NewsNo all-in fee for asset management firms
Asset management firms must disclose estimated and actual fees and transaction costs to clients, but should not be forced to charge a single fee for services, the Financial Conduct Authority has recommended.
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Opinion
How do trustees choose the 'right' consultant?
The Financial Conduct Authority’s final report on the asset management market revealed that the investment consulting sector has not escaped the watchdog’s scrutiny, but pinning down criteria for a good consultant is not easy.
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Opinion
Is professionalism the answer to the governance dilemma?
The quality of trusteeship and pension fund governance has improved considerably over the past decade, but many schemes remain poorly governed; this was the view of the Work and Pensions Committee earlier this year.
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News
Governance overhaul required to solve DB woes
An overhaul of trust-based pension schemes to separate trustee ‘directors’ from professional managers could have prevented a crisis in defined benefit pensions, a new report has claimed.
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Opinion
DC Debate Q2 (part 1): Are equities best for defaults?
In the second DC Debate of 2017, seven defined contribution specialists discuss ESG in default funds, and what to say to members when markets fall.
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Features
How DC schemes should approach smart beta
How should defined contribution schemes approach smart beta, and how will environmental, social and governance focused investment change the sector? Eric Shirbini from ERI Scentific Beta, Julien Barral from bfinance, Alan Pickering from Bestrustees, James Price from Willis Towers Watson and Paul Black from Capital Cranfield discuss.
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OpinionWhy ESG is more than 'nice to have'
Environmental, social and governance investing has boomed in popularity in recent years, driven by a new breed of socially aware investors, who are keen to hold companies they invest in to account.
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OpinionDoes private equity offer schemes good value?
Take a quick look at historical private equity performance. The difference in the internal rate of return varies between top and lower quartile private equity funds by as much as 10 per cent to 15 per cent.
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OpinionPassive investors can still be active owners
Excessive corporate pay, misaligned incentives and a lack of progress on climate change are just a few of the issues highlighted so far this year at corporate annual general meetings.
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OpinionE, S or G: Which should schemes prioritise?
While there has been significant and increasing interest in environmental, social and governance issues among pension funds, there has not broadly been a corresponding increase in the nuance of integrating these factors in building and managing portfolios.
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Features
FKI scheme winds up and moves members to mastertrust
Trustees of the defined contribution FKI Group Pension Plan have agreed to wind up the scheme, transferring active members to a mastertrust, as experts note governance and cost management benefits.
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News
TPR guidance: Welcome set of principles or waste of time?
While some have welcomed the Pensions Regulator’s recently published and extensive collection of investment guidance for those running defined benefit pension schemes, there are some concerns over the effectiveness of the information for time-stretched or less diligent trustees.
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News
Better trusteeship key to any future DB plans
Efforts to improve the level of experience and competence of trustee boards must not come at the expense of diversity, politicians have warned, as dealing with groupthink remains a key concern in defined benefit pensions.
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News
Keep it simple when exploring new strategies
PLSA Investment Conference 2017: While smart beta has been labelled a cost-effective option for schemes looking for higher returns than a market cap index, trustees turning to these types of strategy have been advised to keep things simple while focusing on governance and costs.
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News
Lack of consultant feedback threatens scheme governance
PLSA Investment Conference 2017: More than half of professional trustees and consultants rate their clients’ decision-making capabilities as acceptable or below, as industry figures have urged a rethinking of boardroom psychology.
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Opinion
What to look for in the forthcoming IGC statements
Independent governance committee chairs are currently finalising their second chair’s annual statement and reports, so what lessons have IGCs learnt from the first round of statements and the approach taken by the Financial Conduct Authority to date?
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OpinionWhy Nest is factoring in climate change
In 2015, Nest was one of more than 400 investors to sign the global investor statement on climate change as part of the Paris pledge for action.