All UK equities articles

  • News on the go
    News

    Pensions industry in dire need of 'real' fee transparency

    2022-03-29T00:00:00Z

    On the go: Asset managers charging lower fees for global active equity funds often deliver better value for money, but the fees collected differ greatly from those presented in the public domain, according to a report from ClearGlass Analytics.

  • News on the go
    News

    DB schemes derisk investments as funding levels improve

    2021-12-13T00:00:00Z

    On the go: Defined benefit schemes are increasingly looking to derisk their investment approach to protect their improved funding levels, according to new research from Aon.

  • News on the go
    News

    NFU Mutual pension fund hires Trafalgar House as administrator

    2021-08-11T00:00:00Z

    On the go: The NFU Mutual Retirement Benefit Scheme, with £1.1bn in defined benefit assets and £206.2m in defined contribution assets, has appointed Trafalgar House to provide administration services, effective from July 1 2021.

  • News on the go
    News

    CAB International scheme hires Aon as administrator

    2021-06-17T00:00:00Z

    On the go: The £60m defined benefit section of the CAB International Pension Scheme has hired Aon to provide administration services.

  • News on the go
    News

    Fiduciary managers survive Covid scare with strategies intact

    2021-05-25T00:00:00Z

    On the go: Most fiduciary managers had positive returns in 2020 without needing to change their investment strategies in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, analysis from XPS has shown.

  • Podcasts
    Podcasts

    Podcast: Pension schemes’ under-allocation to China is ‘anachronistic’

    2021-05-12T00:00:00Z

    Podcast: UK pension schemes are too often under-allocated to China and missing out on the significant opportunities presented by its continued growth and development. There are, however, lingering environmental, social and governance concerns around investing in the “nominally communist” state, says RisCura investment consultant Lars Hagenbuch. He is joined by SEI Investments director Cyprian Njamma in an episode also covering Covid-19 mortality data and the Pensions Regulator’s proposed asset information reform.

  • Pexels
    News

    TPR, PPF propose tiered approach in asset information reform

    2021-04-29T00:00:00Z

    The Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund have issued a joint consultation into proposals to change the asset class information TPR collects via the scheme return.

  • News

    Calls to improve pension funds’ small and mid-cap tax incentives

    2021-03-08T00:00:00Z

    On the go: More than two-thirds of investors would like to see greater tax incentives for pension funds and insurance companies to invest in small- and mid-cap companies, according to research by UK investment banking specialist Peel Hunt.

  • Opinion

    Schemes cannot own same stocks in a downturn as in a recovery

    2021-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The past few decades have seen many types of investor — not just pension funds — allocate away from both equities in general and the UK in particular, as they sought to derisk and diversify portfolios.

  • News

    Access Pool launches seven new sub-funds worth £5.5bn

    2021-02-08T00:00:00Z

    On the go: The Access Pool, which handles assets for 11 Local Government Pension Scheme funds with around £46bn in assets under management, has launched seven new sub-funds worth £5.5bn.

  • Data crunch
    News

    Master trust competition hots up despite consolidation

    2021-02-02T00:00:00Z

    Data crunch: The majority of master trusts are targeting defined contribution schemes in a bid to boost their assets under management, leading to heightened competition in a marketplace where there is scepticism about acquiring rivals.

  • News

    How schemes can navigate the post-Covid recovery

    2021-01-21T00:00:00Z

    Defined benefit schemes should use the post-Covid recovery to conduct a thorough postmortem of the effects of 2020’s events on their portfolios and strategies, according to Barnett Waddingham.

  • News

    DB schemes over-reliant on ‘historically improbable’ returns

    2020-09-11T00:00:00Z

    On the go: Underfunded defined benefit schemes in the UK will require “once-in-a-century” equity performance if they are to avoid carrying their funding gaps well into the 2030s, according to a new report from Willis Towers Watson.

  • News

    Covid-19: Markets bounce back; bulk annuity prices drop

    2020-03-25T00:00:00Z

    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.

  • News

    Diversification helps Nest mitigate FTSE slump

    2020-03-24T00:00:00Z

    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.

  • Opinion

    Is there a future for equities in DB?

    2019-12-02T00:00:00Z

    Data Crunch: Corporate defined benefit schemes have been shifting allocations away from equities as a means of reducing funding volatility and focusing on assets that can deliver contractual cash flows.

  • News

    Woodford debacle wipes out £63m from Kent Council Fund

    2019-11-21T00:00:00Z

    On the go: The Kent County Council Superannuation Fund has seen the value of its holdings in Woodford Investment Management’s flagship fund fall 24 per cent in six months, wiping out £63m.

  • Features

    Buy-in pricing could improve in post-Brexit world

    2019-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Brexit volatility could be a good thing for defined benefit pension schemes looking to insure liability risk, according to experts.

  • News

    Return to equities not a sign of volatility ending, consultants say

    2019-05-21T00:00:00Z

    Data crunch: UK pension fund allocations to equities ticked upwards in the first quarter of 2019, according to data collected by Pensions Expert’s sister title MandateWire, as managers sought to capitalise on falling prices in late 2018.

  • Features

    Active managers unable to mitigate late 2018 volatility

    2019-04-18T00:00:00Z

    For active managers, the ultimate test of mettle will always be whether they can beat their benchmark. As of the end of 2018 the news looks good for stockpickers specialising in UK equities, but analysts say there are still concerns behind the numbers.