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Sustainability
USS paper urges governments to do more to support climate policy
A new report from USS and the University of Exeter, argues that investors who focus on decarbonising their portfolios won't change real-world decarbonisation and would have more impact on climate change by buying transition investments.
Asset Allocation
TRS strikes gold: Tiny allocation crushes its benchmark
This year, TRS doubled its tiny allocation to gold via a special fund that buys gold ETFs and mining companies. The strategy returned nearly 60 per cent, thanks to market conditions including inflation, geopolitics, government debt levels and de-dollarisation pushing gold higher.
Opinion
Moving from risk 1.0 to risk 2.0
As investors move into 'risk 2.0', how should they change their modelling approach and investment toolkits? WTW global head of portfolio strategy Jeff Chee outlines in this column why investors should consider principles such as greater use of qualitative risk measures.
Sponsored Content
Private asset funds are no longer fit-for-purpose
The surging interest in generative AI has triggered a technological arms race, driving demand for data centres. Investors are looking to capitalise on what is often described as a generational opportunity, but as Blue Owl’s James Clarke cautions, there are several important factors to assess in partners for the long-term.
Sustainability
PRI slashes reporting burden to preserve code relevance among signatories
The Principles for Responsible Investment will reduce signatories’ responsibilities in their annual mandatory reporting from 240 questions to just 40 next year. The outgoing PRI chief David Atkin explains the move and why asset owners have a big role in stabilising the discussion around responsible investment.
Featured Story
LGPS Central doubles in size; looks to add more alternatives
In a rare interview, Jayne Atkinson, chief investment officer of the £100 billion ($132 billion) UK pool LGPS Central, reveals the plan to scale up its offering after almost doubling its assets under management, including expanding alternatives to new allocations in hedge funds, diversified growth funds and insurance-linked securities.
News
NBIM dethrones GPIF to become the world’s largest asset owner
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is now the world’s largest asset owner according to the Thinking Ahead Institute's annual Asset Owner 100 report, which also outlines the similarities and challenges among top capital allocators globally.
News
Sweden’s AP2 and AP6 conflict over PE investments
The Swedish government’s plans to streamline the country’s pension system and merge the $8 billion buffer fund AP6 with its larger and more diversified sibling, the $48 billion AP2, have hit a bump in the road. Major points of contention include AP6's large private equity exposures and staff integration.
Investor Profile
CalPERS bets on outperformance from growing climate allocation
CalPERS' Peter Cashion tells Top1000funds.com how the pension fund's strategy to allocate to climate mitigation, transition and adaptation strategies is allowing it to access an untapped corner of the US market where many investors have retreated because of the policy environment.
Sustainability
Climate politics: BlackRock hits back at NYC Comptroller
The skirmish between the New York City Comptroller and BlackRock over climate alignment of the city’s public pension funds – a fight worth a $42 billion mandate to BlackRock – highlights the complexity and impracticality of aligning climate expectations, reporting requirements and business imperatives.
Opinion
Resilience: Abdicating from transformational change?
Will the relentless pursuit of efficiency undermine our ability to build a resilient and sustainable future? Andrea Caloisi, a researcher at the Thinking Ahead Institute at WTW, explores how complex systems, driven by short-term optimisation, may be fuelling long-term fragility.
Opinion
Wisdom: The jewel in the dirt-pile of intelligence
In his regular column for Top1000funds.com, Tim Hodgson, co-founder of the Thinking Ahead Institute at WTW, reflects on the dangers of unconstrained action, the limits of efficiency, and why long-term sustainability may depend on knowing when not to act.
Opinion
Are we waiting for a superhero to save our world?
Can climate inaction be reversed, or will we keep waiting for someone else to act? Jessica Gao, researcher at the Thinking Ahead Institute at WTW, explores how individuals, investors, and companies can step up to lead the transition - before it's too late.
Infrastructure
APG’s answer to aligning government and investment goals in infrastructure
An increasing push to invest in home markets means asset owners need better frameworks for aligning government expectations with investment goals. APG’s three-pronged approach for public infrastructure investments could act as a guide for other investors looking to balance fiduciary duty with political demands.
Fixed Income
CalPERS touts fixed income wins, gears up for TPA
At the annual review of its fixed income portfolio, CalPERS staff explain how active management, value-add strategies and the hunt for alpha are paying off, with ESG integration giving it a valuable edge and informing it to invest in companies under pressure like Boeing at the right time.
FIS Stanford 2025
Real asset opportunities ‘are coming from everywhere’: Macquarie
While the US remains the most entrepreneurial economy, China might now be challenging its technology leadership, while demographics, deglobalisation, decarbonisation, and digitalisation are creating “massive opportunities” in almost every market, according to Macquarie Asset Management.
FIS Stanford 2025
Public-private partnerships key to fixing US infrastructure
The size of the current infrastructure investment gap and the speed at which it is widening mean there is both a desire and a need for more public-private partnerships to unlock funding. Investors say that collaboration with local governments and raising public awareness of private investment benefits are crucial.
FIS Stanford 2018
FIS Stanford Photo Gallery
View photos from the 2018 Fiduciary Investors Symposium, held at Stanford University, United States.
FIS Stanford 2018
China’s enticing, challenging market
Inefficient markets and an explosion of technological innovation fuelled by Millennial consumers make China a tantalising prospect but accessing strong returns there isn’t as simple as it looks.
FIS Stanford 2018
Protecting human capital helps everyone
Investors have plenty to gain from helping to protect human rights in supply chains and managing the human costs during technological disruption and the transition to a low-carbon economy.
FIS Stanford 2018
How to follow megatrends to success
The big themes that will fuel growth in coming decades are interconnected and subject to change. An expert panel gave advice on riding societal change to outperformance.
FIS Stanford 2018
How the active complements the passive
Investors discuss the various ways that two styles often presented as if they are enemies in fact work hand in hand across portfolios to produce returns.
News
Limited alternatives keep global capital anchored to the US
Singapore’s Temasek said while US exceptionalism may be “fraying”, there aren’t many alternative markets that can handle the same volume of global capital. Meanwhile, fellow sovereign fund GIC believes the greenback’s reserve currency status remains solid even though currency swings could spell trouble for foreign investors.
FIS Oxford 2025
LP demands for bespoke solutions define new era for private managers
Private asset managers can expect to work harder for LP capital as allocators increasingly look for more bespoke, flexible structures that meet their changing needs around liquidity, fee and types of exposures. Investors at FIS Oxford unpack how they approach manager relationships in the new era of private investments.
Asset Allocation
Fordham University dials up growth equity, cools on private credit
Fordham University CIO Geeta Kapadia is cutting back on private credit, calling it an asset class “less able to financially engineer returns” in a higher-rate world. She’s instead redirecting the $1.1 billion endowment to venture and growth equity and entrusting larger mandates to a smaller roster of high-conviction managers.
Asset Allocation
South Carolina lifts private equity and credit as cashflow turns positive
The South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission's improved liquidity position has allowed the plan to tilt its portfolio towards unlisted asset classes, including private equity and private credit. The fund grew fast thanks to funding reform, improved salaries, and positive investment returns and is now looking to boost long-term performance.
News
KIC eyes pivot to total portfolio approach in latest review
The $206.5 billion Korea Investment Corporation has become the latest asset owner weighing a shift into the total portfolio approach in an attempt to boost investment returns. After putting out an RFP for a consulting partner in May, it will conduct a review into early next year about TPA's feasibility.
InFocus
TAA critical to adding value over the next six to 18 months
After several painful years, geographical diversification is finally working and will continue to work, at least in the short term, with increasing signs of a valuation advantage for non-US stocks and bonds, according to T. Rowe Price’s Sébastien Page. He says it's time to make use of tactical asset allocation.
Investor Profile
USS swings into surplus but flags re-think after Thames losses
USS says losses in Thames Water have led to deep reflection on how it will invest in regulated assets in the future, flagging the need for consistent regulation to support pension fund investment. As the fund celebrates its 50th year it records a surplus for the first time since 2008.
Strategy
UK’s transition-focused SWF gets green light
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves didn’t waste any time approving the UK’s new SWF aimed at funding the energy transition. As it begins to lay down structure and governance frameworks critics point to the challenges of bringing projects to a level where they are investable.