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☆ Rising Rates Take Some Shine Off Private Markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

After years of shifting money into private market investments, public pension and investment funds are taking a fresh look at publicly traded debt, thanks to the highest yields in more than a decade. “Bonds are back,” said California State Teachers’ Retirement System investment chief Christopher Ailman . He predicted that public pension funds will shift an additional 2% to 5% of assets into publicly traded debt, reversing a multidecade trend of shrinking fixed-income portfolios.

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) shareholders should vote against its annual report and remuneration policy and support the "Follow This" climate activist resolution at BP's shareholders' meeting, Britain's Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) has recommended in a report seen by Reuters. In February BP rowed back on plans to slash oil and gas output and emissions and will not offer shareholders a vote on its climate strategy as it did last year when they backed it. LAPFF in a report to its members said it was "disappointed with the slackening of 2030 aims for emissions reduction". "LAPFF is further disappointed that there is not a company resolution on transition planning this year, especially given the material changes since the last one." They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Commercial real estate is struggling with rising rates and bank woes, but the cohead of a $21 billion lender said it's the best time in his more than 20 year career
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

High interest rates, office woes, and less bank funding are chilling commercial real estate. But a top commercial real estate lender said there's never been a better time for firms like his. It's a bleak time in commercial real estate, and it can be hard to find any rays of sunshine. One Bank of America analyst just warned commercial real estate presents a major risk regional banks that own a disproportionate 68% of the sector's loans. While interest rate uncertainty is clouding the commercial real estate outlook, some transactions could provide clarity to the market, de Haan said.

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - A member of a United Nations-backed coalition of insurance firms and pension funds seeking to tackle climate change told Reuters it was considering quitting after disagreements about curbing investment in the oil and gas sector split the group. The row is the latest in a string of policy splits among major climate coalitions of financial firms. AkademikerPension wanted the position paper to state that NZAOA members should only invest in public equities or corporate bonds when the companies involved are no longer investing in exploration for new oil and gas. German insurer Munich Re (MUVGn.DE) said earlier on Friday it was withdrawing from another alliance of insurers focused on reducing carbon emissions to avoid antitrust risks. "I think it's going to be extremely difficult for a plaintiff, even a government enforcer, to prevail on an antitrust theory of harm," said Mitnick.

☆ Cash-strapped Chinese cities are cutting medical benefits for seniors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Censors removed hashtags for “Wuhan health insurance” from Weibo’s hot topics section after the demonstrations began in January. State media reported at the time that some other regions had already spent public money on mass testing. CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty ImagesCovering the shortfallChina’s health insurance scheme is a key part of its limited social safety net. To protesters, however, it looked like local governments were dipping into their individual accounts to cover the shortfalls of the collective pool. “There has to be some resolution of the financial capacity of local governments to meet current, and prospective, age-related costs,” Magnus said.

Macro and trend-following hedge funds dropped 3.2% this month through March 29, while algorithmic commodity trading advisor funds (CTAs) dove 6.8%. Hedge fund strategies based around macroeconomic ideas like those run by Rokos, DG Parters and EDL Capital fund posted negative performances in March, sources and bank data said. Trend-following hedge funds, which trade on systematically programmed ideas, also posted big losses. The bank decided not to change clients' borrowing limits, but it has increased diligence oversight on the hedge fund exposure, including new clients, the broker said. Trend-following funds tend to bail quickly on trades that stop working, said a pension fund director who invests in hedge funds.

☆ Wall Street lines up against SEC chair Gary Gensler on one of his most controversial proposals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +15 min

However, Gensler has claimed that pension funds and other institutional investors are not able to interact with that retail order flow. Auctions: the industry lines up against it The auction proposal has generated a large volume of comment letters to the SEC. He has said investors today need a better understanding of how well their trading orders are being executed. Theoretically, the SEC could vote on any or all of the four proposals in a shorter time period. This is just the start This is just the start of many proposals in front of the SEC.

☆ Australia's biggest pension funds cut China exposure, buy fossil fuels
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Lewis Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, March 30 (Reuters) - Two of Australia's largest pension funds pulled money out of Chinese stocks and boosted positions in the country's fossil fuel sector in the final six months of 2022, according to filings published on Thursday. Both funds collectively increased their shareholdings in Woodside Energy Group (WDS.AX), Australia's largest independent natural gas producer, by roughly 14 million shares. The disclosures come just days after activist investors accused the big Australian pension funds of failing to push fossil fuel producers like Woodside hard enough to decarbonise. The figures reveal pension funds pulling back from China during the back half of 2022, a time when investors across the developed world were reconsidering exposure to a country still subject to strict COVID lockdowns. Aware Super said in a statement it had a "relatively small exposure" to China mostly via external managers.

☆ BlackRock calls on clients to rethink hedging strategy after UK pension crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Tommy Wilkes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Asset managers worry new rules to make LDI investing more robust could render the strategy unviable for some schemes, but consultants warn BlackRock's push could repel pension clients who want to minimise concentration risk. On Wednesday the Bank of England said LDI funds would, in practice, need to increase liquidity buffers to withstand a 300-400 basis points surge in bond yields. BlackRock is also encouraging schemes to shift to a new, smaller range of LDI funds which are less complex to operate, and moving bigger schemes into segregated accounts, which fared better in the crisis, Claringbull said. "But where clients feel they are being compromised they will look to move assets," he added. Despite the crisis fallout BlackRock has told clients it remains committed to LDI.

[1/2] Starbucks workers attend a rally as they go on a one-day strike outside a store in Buffalo, New York, U.S., November 17, 2022. REUTERS/Lindsay DeDario//File PhotoNEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - Starbucks shareholders approved a proposal for the coffee chain to conduct an independent assessment of its labor practices as it contends with hundreds of newly unionized U.S. cafes, according to voting results filed on Wednesday. The city's public pension funds and a coalition of other shareholders, who combined hold about 2.2 million Starbucks shares, proposed the assessment. "It is clear from the vote result in the proposal that our investors share our commitment to our partners," Starbucks said in its regulatory filing disclosing the results. The Seattle-based company said it will use findings of the review to "understand how we can best support our partners."

☆ Bank of England calls for urgent action on funds that nearly toppled UK financial system
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —The Bank of England has called for urgent action to address a weak spot in the UK financial system as persistent worries about the global banking sector threaten to unleash fresh market turmoil. LDI crisisThe role of LDI funds in the UK financial system was thrown into the spotlight in the fall after the Truss budget triggered an unprecedented selloff in UK government bonds. This had an alarming knock-on effect on pension funds that had gone all in on liability-driven investment strategies. “We are monitoring events closely and their impact on financial markets, UK banks and UK economic conditions,” it said. The central bank added that UK banks were “resilient” and “currently healthy.” But it warned that other parts of the financial system might need bolstering.

☆ Factbox: Canada budget 2023-24: key measures and proposals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OTTAWA, March 28 (Reuters) - Here are some of the key government measures and proposals outlined in the 2023-24 budget presented by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Tuesday. - Dental Care expansionProposal to introduce legislation to for a new dental care plan which will provide dental care to uninsured Canadians with family income less than C$90,000 annually. - Right to repairGovernment to work toward implementing a right to repair, aimed at making it easier and cheaper to repair home appliance and electronics. - Standard charging portGovernment to explore implementing a standard charging port in Canada for phones, tablets, cameras, laptops and other electronic devices. - Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax CreditProposal for a refundable tax credit equal to 30% of the cost of investments in machinery and equipment used to manufacture or process key clean technologies, and extract, process, or recycle certain critical minerals essential to clean technology supply chains.

Brookfield has prevailed over other investment firms in an auction that Data4's majority owner, Axa Investment Managers, held for the company, the sources said on Friday. If negotiations and financing arrangements are concluded successfully, a deal could be announced as early as next week, the sources added. The sources cautioned that there remained a chance that no deal would be completed and asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Brookfield declined to comment, while representatives for Data4 and AXA Investments, a division of French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA), did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Headquartered in Paris, Data4 operates at least 25 data centers across France, Italy, Spain and Luxembourg, according to its website.

☆ Exclusive: N. American fixed income group won't take legal action over Credit Suisse AT1 fiasco-source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Divya Rajagopal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TORONTO, March 23 (Reuters) - The Credit Roundtable, a lobby group of some of the biggest fixed income asset managers from the United States and Canada, has decided not to take legal action against Credit Suisse AG (CSGN.S) a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. Earlier this week, the Swiss regulator ordered 16 billion Swiss francs ($17.5 billion) of Additional Tier-1 (AT1) debt to be wiped out under its rescue takeover by UBS (UBSG.S). The Credit Roundtable was not available for an immediate comment. Launched in 2007 for bondholders protection, Credit Roundtable consists of 43 members including PIMCO, Vanguard, MetLife (MET.N), Canadian pension fund Omers, Sun Life Financial Inc (SLF.TO) among others. The bond holders of Credit Suisse in Europe and UK have been seeking legal advice over the Swiss banking regulator's decision to write off AT1 bonds under the rescue take over by UBS.

March 23 (Reuters) - Large companies, including asset manager Franklin Templeton (BEN.N) and web-services provider Akamai Technologies Inc (AKAM.O), joined an effort on Thursday to defend sustainable investment practices from a backlash by U.S. Republican politicians. Republicans, often from energy-producing states, have sought to block the growing use of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations by shareholders and corporate executives. BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) for instance on Thursday said it would continue to press companies for information about climate risks. Mindy Lubber, CEO of sustainability nonprofit Ceres, which organized Thursday's statement, told a call with reporters that companies showed "some hesitancy" to speak up. But Anne Simpson, head of sustainability for Franklin Templeton, part of California-based Franklin Resources Inc (BEN.N), said on the same call that ESG efforts are "fiduciary duty at work".

☆ Exclusive: N. American fixed income group will not take legal action over Credit Suisse AT1 wipeout -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Divya Rajagopal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TORONTO, March 23 (Reuters) - The Credit Roundtable, a lobby group of some of the biggest fixed income asset managers from the United States and Canada, has decided not to take legal action against Credit Suisse AG (CSGN.S), a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The Credit Roundtable was unavailable for comment. Launched in 2007 for bondholders' protection, Credit Roundtable consists of 43 members including PIMCO, Vanguard, MetLife (MET.N), Canadian pension fund Omers, and Sun Life Financial Inc (SLF.TO). The source said individual members are free to pursue legal action independently. The bond holders of Credit Suisse in Europe and UK have been seeking legal advice over the Swiss banking regulator's decision to write off AT1 bonds under the rescue take over by UBS.

☆ Analysis: What's behind bitcoin's latest surge?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Tom Wilson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The original and biggest cryptocurrency has been here before, its 15-year history peppered with dramatic price increases and equally vertiginous drops. Driving bitcoin's gains have been its core user base of retail investors, analysts said. In the past, too, dramatic price swings for bitcoin have been closely tied to shifts in monetary policy globally. In 2022, bitcoin plummeted over 65% as higher rates triggered the fall of a major crypto token, precipitating the closure of major hedge funds and crypto lenders. To be sure, some investors say developments to bitcoin's intrinsic characteristics are now capable of supporting its price.

Economists who obsess about tightly calibrating the quantity of money in the system balk at QE as a tool. Two weeks of turmoil in mid-sized U.S. banks follow just nine months in which the Fed had been winding down its outsize balance sheet that peaked near $9 trillion during the pandemic. "Illiquidity episodes may force central banks to slow the process of reserve withdrawal. Reuters GraphicsILLIQUIDTY EPISODESThis could become a trap that prevents normalisation of the balance sheet longer term, they said. Better-measured and more forward-looking liquidity regulations, incentives for longer-duration deposits during QE bouts and rethinking stress tests were all options, they wrote.

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday rejected a Republican proposal to prevent pension fund managers from basing investment decisions on factors like climate change, in the first veto of his presidency. "I just signed this veto because the legislation passed by the Congress would put at risk the retirement savings of individuals across the country," Biden said in a video posted on Twitter. Two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana, voted with Republicans. Manchin countered that it was the Biden administration that was pushing its "radical policy agenda" on this issue. "Despite a clear and bipartisan rejection of the rule from Congress, President Biden is choosing to put his administration’s progressive agenda above the well-being of the American people," Manchin said in a statement.

☆ Some Public Pension Funds Are Pulling Back on Private Equity
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Some U.S. public pension and investment funds are pulling back on private equity after a decade of state and local retirement systems aggressively pursuing the expensive, risky and hard-to-trade asset class. Maryland’s $65 billion retirement system is investing less new money in private equity. At Alaska’s $77 billion state fund, the investment chief wants to cancel a planned ramp-up. And the $615 million pension fund of Mendocino County, Calif., last month opted against introducing private equity to its investment mix.

☆ New Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan takes over nearly two weeks earlier than expected
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Starbucks on Monday said that Laxman Narasimhan has officially become CEO, nearly two weeks earlier than expected. After being named incoming CEO in September, Narasimhan has spent months learning about Starbucks' business, including training as a barista. Schultz returned nearly a year ago after former CEO Kevin Johnson surprised investors by announcing his retirement. Since Schultz returned April 4, Starbucks stock has risen nearly 8%, bringing its market value to $113 billion. In September, Schultz told CNBC that he's never planning on coming back as Starbucks' chief executive again.

☆ Explainer: Why is Macron in so much trouble over pension reform?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Richard Lough | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Here is why:WHAT CHANGES TO THE PENSION SYSTEM DOES MACRON WANT TO MAKE? Failure to act would see the pension system record an annual deficit of 13.5 billion euros by 2030, the government forecasts. The government calculated that "accompanying measures" to smooth the way would cost 4.8 billion euros, creating a 0.3 billion euros surplus in 2030. France's pension system costs nearly 14% of GDP, the third highest within the OECD behind Italy and Greece. He could call a referendum on the pension reform and risk it becoming a plebiscite on his presidency.

☆ 'That's a lie' accusation obscures bipartisan Social Security reform talks -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Richard Cowan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

When Yellen responded that Biden "stands ready to work" with lawmakers, Cassidy shot back, "That's a lie because when a bipartisan group of senators has repeatedly requested to meet with him about Social (Security) ... we have not heard anything on our requests." For several months now, Cassidy and independent Senator Angus King, who caucuses with Democrats, have tried to address Social Security underfunding as approximately 10,000 baby boomers retire every day. The last week of bank failures and worries of a wider-ranging crisis, however, could give lawmakers second thoughts about investing Social Security funds in stocks. The senators' effort is not the only Social Security rescue plan being devised. "That's really just a way to have (benefit) cuts without leaving your fingerprints on it," said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works and head of a coalition of labor unions and other liberal-leaning groups.

But unspent COVID aid is a small target, with less than $80 billion unspent as of January, White House budget figures show. CARPENTERS, VETERANS AND MEDICAL RESEARCHReclaiming unspent COVID funds would have real-world repercussions. A clawback could also affect veterans' healthcare, as the Department of Veterans Affairs has yet to spend $4.6 billion of the money it received for COVID-19 related care. Republican governors of Nebraska and Arkansas last year rejected a second round of aid for people behind on their rent. Republican Senator Rick Scott in January urged governors and mayors to voluntarily return that money to help pay down federal debt.

☆ 'That's a lie' accusation obscures bipartisan Social Security reform talks, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Richard Cowan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

For several months now, Cassidy and independent Senator Angus King, who caucuses with Democrats, have tried to address Social Security underfunding as approximately 10,000 baby boomers retire every day. The last week of bank failures and worries of a wider-ranging crisis, however, could give lawmakers second thoughts about investing Social Security funds in stocks. The senators' effort is not the only Social Security rescue plan being devised. I tend to be conservative and say this worked once, let's try that again," Republican Representative Tom Cole told Reuters. "That's really just a way to have (benefit) cuts without leaving your fingerprints on it," said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works and head of a coalition of labor unions and other liberal-leaning groups.

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