The world’s largest asset managers are speaking out against a Trump administration plan that would make it more difficult for them to incorporate environmental, social and governance factors when making investment decisions, a move that could limit green investing in 401(k) plans. Fidelity Investments wrote in an 11-page letter to the U.S. Department of Labor that the…
Tag: pensions
Rescuing Retirement: A Bold New Proposal
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow attended a meeting on Capital Hill to discuss a new proposal for a portable retirement account available to all workers. Some of the highlights: By 2050, if we make no changes, 1/3 of the elderly will be living in poverty. This is “an issue for everyone,” said Randi Weingarten, President…
White House energy infrastructure order calls for ERISA, proxy voting review – Pensions & Investments
It will be very hard for DOL to make the case that raising ESG concerns is anything but a returns-based fiduciary calculation, but it is still extremely disappointing to see the level of corruption reach so deeply into the government. President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Labor to see whether retirement plans engaging with…
DWP welcomes CMA findings; legislation expected in 2020 – Pensions Age Magazine
UK’s Pension Fund Institute reports on proposed reforms for selecting and evaluating fund managers: The proposed remedies, first published in December, will require pension schemes to run a competitive tender before choosing a fiduciary manager for more than 20 per cent of its assets, in order to drive up standards and decrease costs across the…
PIC struggles to improve quality of corporate governance
South Africa’s PIC pension fund adjusts its corporate governance priorities (emphasis added): More than half of the companies in which the PIC has a substantial investment ignore its views on the need for independent auditors.Almost half of them also ignore its view on what is, or is not, an acceptable remuneration policy, and a substantial…
Shell pension fund challenged to disclose response to climate risk | Financial Times
Shell’s largest UK pension fund is under pressure from a member who says it is failing to disclose how it deals with climate risk, in what is regarded as a test case for other UK pension funds.The £16bn Shell Contributory Pension Fund was contacted last week by Christoph Harwood and ClientEarth, the legal environmental campaign…
The Real Reason the Investor Class Hates Pensions – The New York Times
David Weber, author of an important new book, The Rise of the Working-Class Shareholder: Labor’s Last Best Weapon, writes in the New York Times about the real reason for the switch from defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans: No issue in America today better illustrates the divergent interests of working Americans and the 1…
UN’s $61 Billion Pension Fund Starts Search for New Management – Bloomberg
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wants to overhaul management of the global body’s $61 billion pension fund after three years of underperforming returns and contentious delays in paying retirees.The UN Joint Staff Pension Fund is seeking candidates with “more than 20 years of proven progressively responsible experience” to replace Carolyn Boykin, the former chief investment officer…
FTSE100 Companies Feed Shareholders Dividends While Pension Liabilities Spiral Upwards
Dina Medland writes: The under-funding of pensions is a global issue, and one that keeps returning to the news with ‘corporate governance’ stamped all over it in bright red letters, as previously covered on Forbes. In Britain research out today shines a light on corporate priorities. With total pensions liabilities at £625 billion ($827 billion),…
It’s About My Pension, Stupid: Pensions Are A Corporate Governance Issue
So you still think Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues are not terribly ‘gritty’? Think again. Under the auspices of an ESG issue brief, MSCI – whose indices and analytical information help investors build and manage portfolios – recently published a report on concerns around the under-funding of global pensions. Its results are startling. The…
ValueEdge Advisors 