Reading Time: < 1 minute Data from the Pension Protection Fund as of March 2015 shows that while the assets of UK pension funds have risen in value by 12% over the last year, falling yields have driven a fall in funding ratio of 13%. The aggregate deficit stands at £292bn (this is down slightly from a recent high of … More UK Pension funding ratio falls 13% in a year as yield swings continue
Reading Time: 2 minutes Last month I reported on the record deficit level of UK DB pension funds (as reported by the PPF 7800 index). In spite of reasonable asset returns in recent years, the recent large falls in long dated yields had driven liabilities higher (nearly doubling in 5 years). In February the volatility in long dated yields continued, although … More INFOGRAPHIC: UK DB Pension Deficits Remain Elevated Amid Volatile Yields
Reading Time: 2 minutes Each month the PPF updates its index which tracks the assets and liabilities of 7800 pension schemes in the UK. The January update brought painful reading as the sharp decline in gilt yields in the last quarter of 2014 and first month of 2015 has seen liabilities balloon to £1.6trn (measured on the PPF funding … More INFOGRAPHIC: UK DB Pensions Deficit Hits Record High
Reading Time: 2 minutes We held our first Redington (Un)conference in February 2015, with around 100 clients and prospects listening to 10 5-minute TED-style presentations and participating in a quick flamenco dance routine to liven things up halfway, followed by drinks and networking.
Reading Time: 3 minutes Situated 120km from Weymouth on the English South Coast, and 50km from Normandy, Guernsey (population 65,000) is a beautifully scenic island with around 50km of coastline and a maritime climate supported by the gulf stream which leads to pleasant summers and mild winters. It is also well known for a regulatory-light insurance regime, leading to the island deriving … More Guernsey is a lovely place …
Reading Time: 4 minutes Tail risk hedging seems to be a popular topic at the moment, why? Markets are at highs, but plenty of risks remain. While equity markets have rallied considerably in recent years – The equity market (as measured by the MSCI World Index) is up over 30% since Mario Draghi proclaimed the ECB had “removed tail risk for … More 3 ways to protect a portfolio against downside risks
Reading Time: 3 minutes I had the pleasure of speaking at The Institute of Actuaries Pensions conference in June 2014 on the topic of social media in the pensions industry. It’s a fascinating topic in which I’m far from an expert, but I have learnt a few interesting things since first dipping my toe in the professional social media … More Using Social Media in the Pensions Industry
Reading Time: 6 minutes Intuitively we know that one of the largest single risks facing a defined-benefit pension fund is longevity – that of its members living longer. Its now well known of course that this risk has repeatedly hurt schemes in the past, as past predictions on the path of longevity improvements have proven to be incorrect. … More Live long & prosper: pensions schemes, longevity risk & investment strategy
Reading Time: 2 minutes I’ve had the pleasure of speaking at the Global Derivatives conference in Amsterdam in May 2014, on the ways in which institutional investors are users of options. Here’s a quick look at what I covered Firstly, I’ll look at the different groups of institutional investors including insurance companies, defined benefit and defined contribution pension funds, private wealth … More How do institutional investors use options ?
Reading Time: 2 minutes Another week, another expensive and previously high-performing manager is sacked after losing the faith of his employers following a period of under performance. So far so familiar, but am I talking about the Barclays Premiership or the world of UK pensions? And what parallels can we draw between the two? At Redington we believe successful fund … More What David Moyes can teach us about fund managers
