Investment

While private credit mandates may not be straightforward to set up, they are a reliable source of income with lower default risk, says Mark Fawcett.

The industry has had little success engaging members with pensions over the past 20 years. Jonathan Stapleton says two initiatives currently underway may change this in the future.

Mark Denning, who helped to run $300bn of assets at Capital Group, has resigned from his role after he was alleged to have secretly bought shares for his own benefit in some of the same companies as his funds.

The first generation of ESG strategies excluded whole sectors from investors’ portfolios. Such approaches are still widely used, but investors may be underestimating their impact on portfolio diversification.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) will now seek to publish the first of two consultations on a revised defined benefit (DB) funding code in the new year, depending on the political environment.

Asset manager BNP Paribas has been awarded a private credit mandate by Nest following a competitive open tender.

In this paper, Marshall Stocker, Ph.D, CFA, explores the key drivers of sovereign bond ratings, spread performance and frequency of defaults, paying particular attention to the determinant role that economic policy plays.

The Kent Pension Fund has reassured members that the closure of Woodford Investment Management will not affect its ability to pay benefits.

Flexible apportionment arrangements have become a commonly used tool for employers but, as Andy Lewis says, there can be issues for the unwary.