Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund, the world’s biggest, topped a $1 trillion valuation after the best half-year return in its history.
In the first half of 2017, the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) made 499 billion kroner ($63 billion), a 2.6% return on its investments, the best half-year return in its history, the fund announced on Tuesday.
Three public pension funds, including the Orange County Employees Retirement System, have sued a half-dozen Wall Street banks, alleging they illegally conspired to control a corner of the stock market, leading to higher charges for the funds and thus less money for retirees.
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has reduced its shareholding in Credit Suisse Group to 4.94 percent, amid the Middle Eastern nation’s diplomatic crisis with neighbouring countries.
The QIA previously held 5.01 percent in voting rights and is reporting a sale of shares for the first time since 2008. Qatar’s overall holding – including bonds which convert into equity if capital levels fall below a certain threshold – declined to 15.91 percent from 17.98 percent after a rise in the number of outstanding Credit Suisse shares because of its capital increase.
The fifth annual Global Retirement Index ranking from Natixis Global Asset Management has Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland holding on to the top three slots from 2016. The ranking creates an overall retirement security score for each country from 18 performance indicators that address finances, healthcare, material well-being, and quality of life. Countries are also ranked by those four sub-indexes. Switzerland has consistently topped the rankings since the index was launched five years ago.
Swiss pensioners should be given the option to draw down higher levels of pension income on a time-limited basis, according to Willis Towers Watson. According to consultancy, the best option is the portion of pension savings capital that exceeds the minimum cover prescribed by law.
It proposed the model in response to falling conversion rates, which are used to calculate how much pensioners can take as income from their pensions every year. It was pitched as a means of alleviating pressure on pension providers and offering flexibility and fairness for pensioners.
Billionaire activist investor Daniel Loeb’s Third Point LLC hedge fund has taken $3.5 billion stake in Nestlé. The stake amounts to about 1.25% of swiss company’s shares.
The hedge fund is proposing Nestlé set a formal profit margin target of 18-20 per cent by 2020, boost its debt to buy back shares, put up for sale non-core products in its portfolio, and sell its 23 per cent stake in cosmetic maker L’Oréal, a stake with a market value of about $27 billion. Nestle’s current operating margin is about 15 per cent. Nestlé did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Swiss state pension fund Publica said it will divest from five weapons companies in response to an ongoing campaign by the Swiss Association for Responsible Investments (SVVK – ASIR) to blacklist 15 international arms manufacturers.
According to Swiss public radio, the CHF37 billion ($38 billion) Publica, Switzerland’s biggest pension fund, is selling off its stakes in five arms manufacturers from its investment portfolio. However, the fund wouldn’t specify which firms would be affected. Publica currently has 63,000 people paying in to the fund and 43,000 recipients, mainly government civil servants and employees at the federal institutes of technology. Last September the government revealed that federal investments in arms manufacturers amounted to CHF110 million, or 0.3% of the total fortune of the Publica state pension fund.
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