All River and Mercantile articles
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NewsTriumph International scheme agrees buy-in with L&G
On the go: The Triumph International Pension Scheme has agreed a full £49m buy-in with Legal & General Assurance Society.
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NewsSchroders to acquire River and Mercantile’s FM business
On the go: Schroders has announced its intention to acquire River and Mercantile Group’s UK solutions division, consisting of its fiduciary management and derivatives businesses, for £230m.
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NewsWates Pension Fund appoints fiduciary manager
On the go: The £333.9m Wates Pension Fund has appointed Russell Investments as fiduciary manager for its £300m defined benefit section.
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OpinionLong-term funding: Are we on the right track?
River and Mercantile’s co-head of solutions, Ajeet Manjrekar, details a three-step plan that allows schemes to have a derisking framework consistent with regulatory expectations, while enabling effective decisions.
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News
Guide launched to assess investment consultants’ climate competence
On the go: The Investment Consultants Sustainability Working Group has launched a guide to help trustees in assessing their investment consultants on climate competency.
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OpinionWhy schemes cannot rely on credit strategies alone for CDI
Cash flow-driven investing is the strategy of the moment. While schemes once looked to liability-driven investing to manage liability risk, many are now using CDI to focus more on meeting payments to pensioners.
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FeaturesBBC matches cash flows after strong 2017 returns
The BBC Pension Scheme has slashed its exposure to equity markets, in an attempt to lock in recent outperformance with liability-driven investment, private credit and alternative matching assets.
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OpinionIndustry must help small schemes keep up with standards push
Trustees are coming under increased scrutiny from the Pensions Regulator as it tries to improve standards. Many assume small schemes will come under the most pressure. While small schemes are not implicitly run with any less care or diligence than their larger peers, there are often important differences in what tools providers make available to smaller schemes.
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OpinionUK gilts: The inconvenient truth for schemes
From the blog: Gilts have been a perennial favourite for UK pension schemes, not simply for their liability-matching properties, but also because of the returns they have delivered for schemes in years when markets have wobbled.
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FeaturesKent cuts passive equities for private equity and infra
The £6.2bn Kent County Council Superannuation Fund has moved capital from UK passive equities into private equity and infrastructure. The fund narrowly missed its benchmark for returns in the year to March 2018, after underperformance from equity and fixed income mandates.
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FeaturesRhondda Cynon Taf approves plan for alternatives
The Rhondda Cynon Taf Pension Fund has agreed to wind down its lofty equity exposure in favour of new allocations to absolute return bonds and infrastructure.
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OpinionWhy equity protection should never be too expensive for schemes
From the blog: Equity protection is back in vogue, with falls in markets at the start of the year putting downside protection strategies front of mind.
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Features
How can pension schemes support banks?
Analysis: Around 30 banks have entered into bank capital relief transactions with institutional investors, according to consultancy Aon, with the size of the market estimated at about £20bn, and continuing to grow rapidly.
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Features
Should schemes become more eurosceptic?
Analysis: Trustees may be tempted to act upon the past few weeks’ eurozone headlines, which have detailed sweeping geopolitical change across Italy and Spain and frightened investors in the process.
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FeaturesHaringey to swap passive equities for multi-factor strategy
The London Borough of Haringey Pension Fund has agreed to convert nearly half of its equity allocation from a passive fund into a multi-factor global strategy. It has also recently trimmed an overweight position in equities into its multi-asset absolute return and credit strategies.
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Features
Cumbria implements equity protection strategy
The Cumbria County Council Pension Fund has joined the ranks of local authorities hedging their equity downside with an equity protection strategy. Nearly £1.1bn of the fund’s equities will be covered by the arrangement.
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NewsParliamentary scheme elects alternative credit
The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund has introduced a new allocation to alternative credit to further diversify the scheme’s portfolio of return-seeking assets.
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Features
Should pension schemes consider helping the banks?
Analysis: Pension schemes have an opportunity to take advantage of banks’ growing capital requirements.
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OpinionAvoid rear-view mirror driving
From the blog: A lot of schemes use funding level triggers as part of a derisking journey. Once a certain funding level is met then you derisk by disinvesting from growth assets to add to the matching assets. This reduces the level of risk of the investment strategy but also reduces the expected returns.
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Features
Why DC default investments matter for members
Analysis: More than 90 per cent of savers enrolled in a pension choose to remain in the default option, making it imperative that its investments match members’ needs and offer value for money.