Darcy Song

Identifying best practice in pension management is not a straightforward task. As much as asset allocators may want there to be a definitive answer, differences in size, mandate and resources between different pension funds means an investment approach that works for one may not work for others.

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC is bracing for a period of “profound uncertainty” as the fund looks to rely on more “granular” diversification and maintaining price discipline to traverse the environment.

A little-known administrative hurdle is prohibiting tens of thousands of poorer Australians from accessing the tax-free account-based pensions, as most super funds have placed a minimum balance requirement – as much as $50,000 at funds including AustralianSuper and HESTA – on retirees to apply for an ABP. The analysis by The Conexus Institute has drawn ire from advocacy group Super Consumers Australia.

Success in AI integration may vary for different investors, as some asset owners are reaping alpha benefits while others look for administrative excellence. The Fiduciary Investors Symposium heard how three major institutional asset owners define and measure AI success.

The $37 billion State Super has been building up its exposure to Asian credits as chief investment officer Charles Wu says the sector is being slightly overlooked. With a 7 per cent net annual outflow, Wu says the fund has a natural bias towards yield instruments; it also means when it comes to managing investment risks, liquidity is more important than anything else in the portfolio.

Allocation to climate solutions and the ability to generate alpha from that across asset classes are what will define the future “California model”, according to CalPERS managing director of sustainable investment, Peter Cashion.

Asset owners that are long-term investors should be wary of the conventional model of assessing the stock-bond correlation that is based on several “implicit assumptions”, the Fiduciary Investors Symposium has heard. Instead, the question investors should be asking is: are bonds a hedge or a risk?

As UK pension reform picks up steam, British policymakers and funds have embarked on fact-finding missions to understand the inner workings of their Australian counterparts. Of particular focus has been what has – and hasn't worked – like performance testing, stapling and the conflict between costs and member outcomes.

As one of the rare public-offer industry super funds with a considerable defined benefit component, Aware Super is keen to apply its investment and liabilities management skills to defined contribution assets in a post-Retirement Income Covenant world. Portfolio manager of retirement strategy Shang Wu unpacks the fund’s DB position.

Mega fund AustralianSuper said it is still feeling the pain from its very public loss in US software company Pluralsight and even with $341 billion assets under management, a $1.1 billion write-down is still too big a chunk of money to let go easily.