Most pension assets will move to defined contribution within years
Global institutional pension fund assets in the 16 major markets grew by over 6 per cent during 2014 (compared to around 10 per cent in 2013) to reach a new high of US$36 trillion, according to Towers Watson’s Global Pension Assets Study. The research found that there was a large swing towards defined contribution (DC) assets in many countries including the US where 58 per cent of assets are DC. However in Canada the figure is just 4 per cent. DC pension assets have grown from 38% of all pensions assets in 2004 to 47% in 2014 and are expected to overtake DB assets in the next few years. The US is by far the largest pension market with 61 per cent of total pension assets. Bond allocations for the P7 markets have decreased by 9 per cent in aggregate during the past 19 years (40 per cent to 31 per cent). Allocations to equities have fallen by 7 per cent (to 42 per cent) during the same period.
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Dutch government hit by cyber attack
The government of the Netherlands has confirmed that its websites were hit by a cyber attack on Tuesday and that its back-up plans proved ineffective. The denial of service attack affected the government’s main websites although did not affect telephones or emergency communication channels. A number of other Dutch websites were also affected as the web hosting company was targeted. This type of attack is common and the software needed to launch one can be illegally obtained for very little money. Cyber security expert Christian Doerr from Delft Technical University told Reuters that "Even a 16-year-old with some pocket money can attack a website.”
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High tech schemes may be needed to tackle climate change
Climate change may need the intervention of high-tech solutions in order to reverse the potential for devastating consequences. A report released this week by the National Research Council, the main scientific advisors to the US government, says that ideas that have been dismissed as unworkable or even dangerous may be needed to combat the effects of global warming. Reflecting sunlight back into space and a giant ‘vacuum cleaner’ to suck greenhouse gases from the atmosphere are ideas that have been mooted but shunned in the past but which may be used in the future. While cutting global emissions remains a vital part of the battle with climate change these ‘geoengineering’ ideas will continue to be developed in case they are required.
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