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☆ Award-winning building to be demolished less than 30 years after being built
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-12 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —An award-winning university building that won a prestigious architecture prize is set to be demolished less than 30 years after it was built, sparking widespread criticism. The Centenary Building was built for Salford University in northern England and won the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize, which names Britain’s best new building, in 1996. However, the university has confirmed to CNN that it will be knocked down after sitting empty for several years. “I simply cannot support the demolition of a building that is only thirty years old. “By definition they are the best buildings of the year, and to list at least one modern building a year, after due consideration and maybe a little time, would not seem unreasonable.”

Persons: ”, Stephen Hodder, “, Hodder, Jack Pringle, Pringle Organizations: CNN, Salford University, Royal Institute of British Architects, RIBA, Stirling, RIBA Stirling, “, Century Society, Stirling Prize Locations: England

☆ UK bond turmoil leaves smaller pension schemes with longer-term costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Carolyn Cohn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

As pension funds scrambled for cash to meet margin calls, the Bank of England intervened to stabilise the market and avoid the collapse of some LDI-exposed funds. But pension schemes that could not meet margin calls in time - many of them smaller schemes - had their positions liquidated by LDI fund managers. Larger schemes in segregated funds were more likely to have retained their hedges, industry sources said. Large schemes in segregated funds pay lower fees for more volume - a benefit small schemes cannot enjoy. LDI fund managers BlackRock (BLK.N) and Insight Investment did not respond to requests for comment.

While estimates of how much pension funds need to sell vary they are in the hundreds of billions of pounds, and it is not known how much funds have already raised in cash. Tuesday's BoE intervention was targeted at buying index-linked bonds, a far smaller market than gilts, dominated by pension funds and which suffered another significant selloff this week. He estimates pension funds could sell assets totalling around 300 billion pounds as they adjust hedging positions, although it is not clear how much they may have sold already. He estimated 100 billion pounds could come from gilts and the rest from assets such as global credit, global equities and asset-backed securities. "The bottom line is a lot of schemes need to rebalance their portfolios," he said.

Compounding the pain, providers of so-called liability-driven investment strategies (LDI) are demanding more cash to support new and older hedging positions. The cash buffers now required are about three times bigger than previously requested, according to four consultants advising pension schemes, as market players seek bigger cushions against more volatile moves in bonds. Estimates of how much pension funds need to sell range but are in the hundreds of billions of pounds, although it is not known how much in assets schemes have sold already. "We are definitely not there," he said, referring to whether funds were close to raising the required cash by selling assets. He estimated 100 billion pounds could come from gilts and the rest from assets such as global credit, global equities and asset-backed securities.

Over the last decade, the rise of internet giants like Tencent (0700.HK) exposed the flimsiness of the stereotype. “Influence Empire: Inside the Story of Tencent and China’s Tech Ambition” by Lulu Yilun Chen tracks the company’s evolution into a $350 billion social media and gaming behemoth. The backlash also undermined confidence in China’s private tech sector. U.S. venture capital investment has dwindled, and even Chinese tech investors are now venturing abroad. Follow @ywchen1 on TwitterCONTEXT NEWS“Influence Empire: Inside the Story of Tencent and China’s Tech Ambition”, by Lulu Yilun Chen, was published by Hodder & Stoughton on July 14.

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