The world’s pension funds are growing as an ageing population puts more money aside to pay for retirement. The global total has doubled in the past decade to almost $57 trillion. But the biggest pool of savings risks missing out on both diversification and returns by restricting its investments to its domestic markets.
Small-cap growth stocks have dropped far from their highs, leading some to wonder if they’re now bargains. The answer is no, says TheStreet.com columnist Mark Hulbert.
Fidelity International is expanding the investment universe of its Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa fund to include global emerging markets as it becomes part of the asset manager’s sustainable fund range.
Just days before two legislative committees are set to hear a bill that would require the Maryland pension system to consider climate change as a financial factor when making investment decisions, environmental groups have released a study showing that the state has sacrificed millions of dollars in potential returns by investing in fossil fuel companies responsible for the climate crisis.
People want green pensions but are reluctant to switch out of ‘default’ work funds, placing the onus on providers to switch them into sustainable investments.
With central banks set to tighten monetary policy in an effort to rein in inflation, new and untested asset classes are likely to be punished harder than more reliable ones.