BFinance

Andrew Short looks at the number of threats to the cashflows of the Local Government Pension Scheme

UK - Hard bargaining and encouraging competition helped institutional investors hiring managers save over a quarter on the fee levels they were initially quoted last year, research shows.

EUROPE/US - Pension funds and other institutional investors are shifting away from traditional equity and bond allocations in favour of alternative asset classes, research from bfinance shows.

Schemes will continue to cut exposure to equities and fixed income and shift investments towards property and alternatives in the next six months, bfinance says.

GLOBAL - Expectations for average total property returns are falling sharply around the globe as economic uncertainty, reduced access to financing and increased supply take their toll, research has warned.

Expectations for average total property returns are falling sharply as economic uncertainty, reduced access to financing and increased supply take their toll, a bfinance survey reveals.

Pension funds are continuing to diversify into riskier assets, with interest in private markets likely to increase in the short to mid-term, bfinance says.

EUROPE - Pension funds are continuing to diversify into riskier assets, with interest in private markets likely to increase in the short to mid-term, bfinance said.

Schemes are increasingly shifting towards active strategies as market rallies pushed down fees in 2009 across most asset classes, latest bfinance research reveals.

The Greater Gwent Pension (Torfaen) Pension Scheme has invested £125m in a global equities mandate with Aberdeen Asset Management following a bfinance search.