How has the ‘Your Future, Your Super’ test changed Australia’s pension funds?
In the latest AOX Trends Report video, editor Damian Fantato talks to APAC deputy editor Stefan Kostarelis about the ‘Your Future, Your Super’ performance test, how it has changed Australia’s pension funds and what the other countries considering similar processes should bear in mind.
Should asset owners ditch their US Treasury holdings?
Several asset owners have ditched their US Treasury holdings recently as yields rise despite Scott Bessent’s interventions, but despite these assets losing some of their predictability for many they remain “the safest of a bad bunch of places”.
Congress puts brakes on investors piling up family homes
The 21st Century Road to Housing Act has limited the amount of single-family homes which institutional investors can buy. How are they responding to these new rules?
Pension funds come round to VC managers’ thinking on fees and fund-of-funds
Discussions around performance fees "have moved forward significantly over the last 12 months" and are "much more acceptable" to large pension funds, according to Stephen Budge of LCP
German pension funds face bill of up to $870mn over cum-ex scandal
A survey by Germany’s financial regulator Bafin found 21 insurance companies and pension schemes were affected by at least one transaction in the scandal which involved tax loopholes on dividend payments
How should asset owners benchmark their private equity exposure?
Many of the biggest asset owners benchmark their private equity investments against a public markets index. This has led to the impression of horrific underperformance, but are they doing the right thing?
Asset owners want more control in mandates as tolerance for underperformance falls
Research by PwC shows there is now greater demand for “outcome-oriented mandates and customised portfolios” among asset owners
How the $47bn Railpen fund plans to get out of its property pickle
The Railways Pension Scheme has found itself with a bill of about $413mn for remediation work to its property portfolio due to fire safety issues which were first discovered in 2019. But the fund has finally come up with a solution
How Norges Bank is modelling climate change
As a long, hot summer draws to a close (hopefully), Ginni Goldin, senior climate risk analyst at Norges Bank Investment Management, which runs the $2.2tn Norwegian pension fund, tells AOX how the manager has been building a model that can quantify how the companies in the portfolio will be affected by climate change
How Australian super fund avoided the SaaSpocalypse
Marina Pasika, head of private markets at the $75bn Rest super fund, explains why her fund deliberately avoided traditional software managers when building out its private equity programme
How the Banco Master scandal could affect Latin America’s pensions
In the latest AOX Trends Report video, editor Damian Fantato talks to Latin America reporter Marina Benitez about how pension funds in the region are changing, the specific factors which are driving them to invest in private markets, and how the Banco Master scandal is could affect what happens next
How bullish are asset owners feeling?
The latest fund manager survey by Bank of America found the most bullish sentiment since 2022, with cash at historical lows. Do asset owners share those feelings?
Temasek questions its own emissions target but renews its commitment
Dilhan Pillay, Temasek’s chief executive, said external headwinds had made decarbonisation pathways “slower and more disorderly” which contributed to the sovereign wealth fund missing its target to achieve net zero portfolio emissions by 2050
How exposed are asset owner portfolios to AI?
The question of whether an AI bubble is about to pop has been debated for some time, but which parts of their portfolio should asset owners be focusing on? Research suggests more than they might think
Pension funds edge into UK venture capital as growth funding gap persists
Self-driving car start-up Wayve has looked beyond the UK for its capital backing, underlining the limited depth of domestic late-stage funding
AOX debate: Is pensions nationalism here to stay?
Across the world, governments are gently encouraging their pension funds to invest in their domestic economies to stimulate growth - a phenomenon referred to as ‘pensions nationalism’. Why is this happening, is it necessarily a bad thing and what, if anything, can reverse it?
How good are sovereign wealth funds at finding unicorns?
Many of the biggest companies making news recently are backed by a sovereign wealth fund. This might give the impression these asset owners have a good track record of picking winners. Is that the case?
Asset owners are finding more than one way to invest in AI
Many asset owners are investing in AI assets, but a recent conference demonstrated how many are spending money on integrating it into their processes
How family office investment in private markets is changing
According to Alexandre Monnier at CitiGroup, the pendulum has swung "back a little bit" towards fund investments in part because direct investing requires “quite a bit of expertise”
Why this UK family office invests in spaces for emerging artists
Art, including filmmaking, publishing and painting, makes up about 10 per cent of Adeline Arts & Science’s portfolio but the family office says it has outperformed its other investments