All BlackRock articles – Page 4
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News
From trees to manager fees: Top 5 investment stories from 2017
Year in review: Innovation characterised investment headlines in 2017, as schemes and members demanded more sophisticated approaches to pension investment.
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FeaturesShould schemes engage in more shareholder activism?
Analysis: Facebook has cancelled its plan to issue a new type of non-voting shares following pressure from investors, but some have said UK pension funds lack the size to exert similar influence.
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News
DC savers want compulsion, research shows
Members favour scrapping the option to opt out of auto-enrolment minimum contributions, recent research has found, as experts highlight the need for better guidance around the levels of saving required for retirement.
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Features
How valuable are transition managers?
Analysis: Last week, State Street agreed to pay approximately $35m (£26m) to settle a pair of complaints by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it defrauded six institutional investors while conducting transition management services.*
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NewsBAA switches manager as LDI competition grows
The BAA Pension Scheme is implementing a full interest rate hedge, and has in a first step replaced its liability-driven investment manager to improve “efficiency”.
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News
First asset managers commit to LGPS transparency code
The Local Government Pension Scheme advisory board has launched its code of transparency to improve cost disclosure, amid early indications that asset managers will sign up.
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FeaturesCornwall agrees new private credit allocation
The Cornwall Pension Fund is set to make an allocation to private credit, an asset class increasingly popular among schemes as tightened bank regulation has opened up a new range of investment options.
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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
LPFA feels divestment pressure
The London Pensions Fund Authority is under pressure from London Mayor Sadiq Khan to divest entirely from fossil fuel holdings, but says it prefers working with companies and fund managers over divesting.
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OpinionWill government infrastructure investment crowd out pensions?
With monetary policy reaching its limits, we expect to see a global shift to fiscal policy in coming years. Additional infrastructure spending is increasingly likely – economists suggest it contributes more to economic growth than other fiscal policies.
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OpinionIs liability-driven investment facing a backlash?
The prospect of hefty US fiscal stimulus has triggered talk of global reflation. The subsequent jump in government bond yields globally has prompted analysts to lift interest rate forecasts. But we are still in a structurally low interest rate environment.
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News
Increase caps add to rules lottery amid inflation spike
The consumer price index spiked by almost half a per cent in the year to December 2016, narrowing the ‘rules lottery’ gap between the official inflation measure and the retail price index.
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NewsThames Water pours money into LDI
Trustees of Thames Water’s two defined benefit pension schemes have been focusing on risk reduction over the past year, introducing a new liability-driven portfolio for both funds.
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OpinionJust an aside
This week's article about the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Committee focuses on lowering risk, but also delves into the environmental, social and governance factors that played a role in Nilgosc's decision-making.
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OpinionHow to prepare for a switch in inflation hedging
The move to link liabilities of pension schemes to the consumer price index, rather than the retail price index, has recently become a topic for debate.
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NewsWelsh LGPS funds lead the pack on pooling with passive manager appointment
Welsh Local Government Pension Scheme funds have announced the appointment of BlackRock to a £2.8bn passive mandate, following a joint procurement exercise.
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News
PPF: Driving factors matter for active and smart beta allocations
PLSA Investment Conference 2016: Pension schemes should look into the factors driving their investments when considering allocations to active managers and smart beta, said John St Hill, senior portfolio manager at the Pension Protection Fund.
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NewsRPMI dedicates staff to cost investigation
PLSA Investment Conference: The Railways Pension Scheme has hired a full-time employee to investigate investment costs paid by the scheme, after discovering it was paying four times what it had thought.
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OpinionSkip the all-you-can-eat buffet in 2016
New year, same old question: how to make money in financial markets? What's changed beyond the obvious combination of a holiday-depleted bank balance, horrendous weight gains and a new calendar?
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Opinion
Sometimes it's hard to be a woman – 3 takeaways from the latest data
I’m sure Tammy Wynette didn’t have pensions in mind when she sang these lyrics in that classic country dirge.