Author: Lily Harper

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Calpers, the largest public pension fund in the US, has signalled an appetite for more exposure to private equity despite concerns that these assets could expose retirees to too much risk. Stephen Gilmore, chief investment officer of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, said it was “reasonable to expect our private equity exposure will continue to increase somewhat”. Despite concerns about lower than expected returns from some managers and the reliability of private valuations, Calpers has already boosted its allocation to private equity…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Cryptocurrencies myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.We try, valued reader. We really do try. We want to approach all types of tokenised finance with an open mind. Maybe one day, someone will invent something to do with a blockchain that’s not crime, self-enriching grift, black-box frippery, or a distributed Ponzi scheme. We’re ready to reverse ferret a long-standing editorial line, should useful innovation ever happen, so we need to put in the work.But sometimes . . . but sometimes . . . we just want to skip all that and show you a press release. Here’s…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Sometimes — when researching other things — we come across data sets that are just too cool not to share.In this case it’s a snapshot of all the world’s financial assets held by all the world’s financial entities at the end of 2023 — all $480tn of it:Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.The data comes from the Financial Stability Board — the international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It’s analysed…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.US investors are relaunching a key Ukrainian grain export terminal after wresting control from alleged looters, in a test of Kyiv’s ability to attract capital to rebuild its economy in its fourth year of war.US-based funds Argentem Creek Partners and Innovatus Capital Partners have taken over the Olimpex terminal in the port of Odesa, after securing victory in a saga of alleged loan fraud that underlines the challenges of reviving international investment in wartime Ukraine.Sustained Russian attacks on infrastructure and fading…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.After decades during which pensions in many parts of the world have been de-risked — spurred by scandal, accounting changes and other policy tweaks — the pendulum is fast swinging the other way. In many instances that may be appropriate. In others it may be open to abuse.Consider the case of Italy’s sales rep pension scheme Enasarco, which was revealed last week to have allocated 67 per cent of its entire European equities portfolio to one stock, Mediobanca. That group is at…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Jane Street has deposited more than $560mn of what India’s markets regulator has called “illegal gains” in an escrow account to comply with an order that banned the company from trading securities over alleged market manipulation.The Securities and Exchange Board of India said on Monday that Jane Street had informed the regulator that Rs48.4bn ($564mn) “has been credited to an escrow account with a lien marked in favour of Sebi”.The deposit is a precursor to lifting a trading ban imposed by Sebi…

Welcome to FT Asset Management, our weekly newsletter on the movers and shakers behind a multitrillion-dollar global industry. This article is an on-site version of the newsletter. Subscribers can sign up here to get it delivered every Monday. Explore all of our newsletters here.Does the format, content and tone work for you? Let me know: harriet.agnew@ft.com One podcast to start: the FT’s Unhedged Podcast looks at three surprises that might spook the markets. In today’s newsletter:A new twist on an old bet with BuffettAn Apollo-backed insurer is coming for the UK’s pensionsDutch pension funds set to sell €125bn of government…

The EU has put trade retaliations against the US on hold, and US investment banking is set to extend its losing streak. Plus, the FT’s Eleni Varvitsioti explains how Greece recovered from economic disaster in the past decade, but still has work to do.Mentioned in this podcast:EU pauses trade retaliation against US after Trump’s 30% tariff threatInvestment banking set to extend worst run in over a decadeHow Greece came back from the brinkToday’s FT News Briefing was produced by Persis Love, Sonja Hutson, Katya Kumkova, Mischa Frankl-Duval and Marc Filippino. Additional help from Alexander Higgins and Peter Barber. Our acting…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the US banks myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Investment banking is on course to extend a record streak of underperformance, supplying less than a quarter of Wall Street revenues at the biggest US banks for the 14th quarter in a row. Traders are due to come to the rescue of their advisory colleagues once again when the banks report second-quarter results next week, with total trading revenues at the five largest Wall Street banks forecast to be $31bn — more than three times the figure for investment banking. Analysts expect…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Pensions industry myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The City of London Lord Mayor has criticised British companies for picking pension providers that charge the lowest fees, arguing more expensive managers who invest in alternative assets will deliver better returns. “We’ve ended up with pension pots that have lots of equity trackers and lots of fixed income because it’s a cheap way of doing it,” Alastair King said in an interview with the Financial Times, adding that there had been an industry “fixation” on costs over the past 10 years. King, who…