Pension Funds - Articles & White Papers

This report by the Thinking Ahead Institute provides detailed analysis of the world's largest pension funds. Assets under management (AUM) of the world’s largest pension funds totalled US$18.0 trillion in 2018, a fall of 0.4%, compared to an increase of 15.1% the previous year. In 2018 the value of the top 20 funds fell by 1…

This is the second year that DWS has sponsored this report by CREATE-Research. Amongst other insights, this year’s survey confirms the on-going movement of passive investment into the mainstream with 66% of survey respondents considering passive index investing as a mature part of their portfolio.

Every quarter, our Content Team curates a unique list of the best asset manager salary surveys from around the world, providing our members with information on benchmark salaries for investment management professionals. These fund manager salary surveys cover a wide variety of roles within the asset management industry,…

There have been significant changes in the UK pension landscape in recent years following government action to dramatically increase participation rates. The policy of automatically enrolling eligible employees into a pension scheme has tackled some of the structural changes required. However, we can be under no illusion…

There have been significant changes in the UK pension landscape in recent years following government action to dramatically increase participation rates. The policy of automatically enrolling eligible employees into a pension scheme has tackled some of the structural changes required. However, we can be under no illusion…

This 31-page paper by Nomura Research Institute provides important insights into the state and outlook of Japan's asset management industry.

With the maturation of defined benefit pension plans, many have reached an inflection point where cash flows are turning from positive to negative. This is causing a greater emphasis to be placed on income in asset allocation decisions. Income from bonds, however, has withered while alternative sources of income come with…

Trustees, plan sponsors and other responsible parties associated with oversight for retirement savings plans seeking to understand how innovation-and specifically artificial intelligence (AI) - can be used to improve plan design, increase participant engagement and enhance retirement outcomes. This Invesco paper aims to: (i…

Cashflow matching strategies are customised investment solutions, designed to enable clients such as pension schemes or insurance companies to meet their liabilities. LGIM believes that emerging market fixed income has an important role to play in designing cashflow matching solutions.

This 38-page report has been produced by the American Academy of Actuaries Pension Practice Council. It explains how pension actuaries select or recommend an expected investment return assumption or assess capital market models from an outside party, and may also facilitate discussion with investment professionals to better…

This document by Alexander Lloyd provides important insights into salary and benefits packages for the UK pensions sector.

How can pension trustees prepare for new requirements on the fnancial materiality of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors?

Can Strategic Asset Allocations Adapt to Markets? Investors in strategic asset allocation models aren’t immune to market drawdowns. This paper shows a path for potentially changing this experience. By using variable beta strategies, portfolio managers can make their allocation models more dynamic without changing their long-…

This report assesses and ranks the responses of the world’s 100 largest public pension funds to climate change, and its implications for savers. The data collected for this survey is arguably the most comprehensive source currently available and covers a range of dynamics and topics relevant for pension funds from a climate…

Climate change presents a potential systemic risk to the financial system. This 60-page guide by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change aims to serve as a ‘how-to guide’ for institutional investors who are beginning to construct and conduct scenario analysis.

This 42-page report by McKinsey & Company outlines the commercial reforms needed by China’s three-pillar pension system to meet the needs of an aging population.

Investors fear return uncertainty and drawdowns associated with owning relatively risky asset classes, such as equity. The fact that greater risk is associated with greater expected return does not preclude the possibility that realized returns may be far less than a low-risk asset could provide, even with horizons as long…

Corporate plans that adopt an LDI framework intend to derisk over time, which can help stabilize the company’s balance sheet but also result in a negative earnings adjustment. In this paper, we share research on the effect derisking can have on the value of a company’s stock, including the relationship between valuations and…

The 2019 edition of the LCP Investment Management Fees Survey shows that fees have once again fallen in many of the key asset classes used by UK institutional investors. The average fee for an active global equity mandate of £50m has fallen by 11% since 2017. There have also been notable fee reductions in multi-asset…

This report assesses the standard of ESG reporting by ASX200 companies for the 2018 reporting period. It is the 12th annual review of ESG reporting by ACSI.