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Article
Publication date: 20 April 2015

Carmen Pilar Martí-Ballester

– The purpose of this paper is to analyze investor reactions to ethical screening by pension plan managers.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze investor reactions to ethical screening by pension plan managers.

Design/methodology/approach

The author presents a sample consisting of data corresponding to 573 pension plans in relation to such aspects as financial performance, inception date, asset size, number of participants, custodial and management fees, and whether their managers adopt ethical screening or give part of their profits to social projects. On this data the author implements the fixed effects panel data model proposed by Vogelsang (2012).

Findings

The results obtained indicate that investors/consumers prefer traditional or solidarity pension plans to ethical pension plans. Furthermore, the findings show that ethical investors/consumers are more (less) sensitive to positive (negative) lagged returns than caring and traditional consumers, causing traditional consumers to contribute to pension plans that they already own.

Research limitations/implications

The author does not know what types of environmental, social and corporate governance criteria have been adopted by ethical pension plan managers and the weight given to each of these criteria for selecting the stock of the firms in their portfolios that could influence in the investors’ behaviour.

Practical implications

The results obtained in the current paper show that investors invest less money in ethical pension plans than in traditional and solidarity pension plans; this could be due to the lack of information for their part. To solve this, management companies could increase the transparency about their corporate social responsibility (CSR) investments to encourage investors to invest in ethical products so these lead to raising CSR standards in companies, and therefore, sustainable development.

Social implications

The Spanish socially responsible investment retail market is still at an early phase of development, and regulators should promote it in order to encourage firms to adopt business activities that take into account societal concerns.

Originality/value

This paper provides new evidence in a field little analysed. This paper contributes to the existing literature by focusing on examining the behaviour of pension funds investors whose investment time horizon is in the long-term while previous literature focus on analysing behaviour of mutual fund investors whose investment time horizon is in the short/medium term what could cause different investors’ behaviour.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 53 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2017

Harald Biong and Ragnhild Silkoset

Employees often expect an emphasis on financial aspects to be predominant when their employers choose a fund management company for the investment of employees’ pension fund

Abstract

Purpose

Employees often expect an emphasis on financial aspects to be predominant when their employers choose a fund management company for the investment of employees’ pension fund deposits. By contrast, in an attempt to appear as socially responsible company managers may emphasize social responsibility (SR) in pension fund choices. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent managers for small- and medium-sized companies emphasize SR vs expected returns when choosing investment managers for their employees’ pension funds.

Design/methodology/approach

A conjoint experiment among 276 Norwegian SMEs’ decision makers examines their trade-offs between social and financial goals in their choice of employees’ pension management. Furthermore, the study examines how the companies’ decision makers’ characteristics influence their pension fund management choices.

Findings

The findings show that the employers placed the greatest weight to suppliers providing funds adhering to socially responsible investment (SRI) practices, followed by the suppliers’ corporate brand credibility, the funds’ expected return, and the suppliers’ management fees. Second, employers with investment expertise emphasized expected returns and downplayed SR in their choice, whereas employers with stated CSR-strategies downplayed expected return and emphasized SR.

Originality/value

Choice of supplier to manage employees’ pension funds relates to a general discussion on whether companies should do well – maximizing value, or do good, – maximizing corporate SR. In this study, doing well means maximizing expected returns and minimizing costs of the pension investments, whereas doing good means emphasizing SRI in this choice. Unfortunately, the employees might pay a price for their companies’ ethicality as moral considerations may conflict with maximizing the employees’ pension fund value.

Article
Publication date: 18 August 2022

Remziye Gül Aslan

This study aims to examine how the governance structure of the private pension system of Turkey affects the extent of agency problems through a qualitative exploratory analysis of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how the governance structure of the private pension system of Turkey affects the extent of agency problems through a qualitative exploratory analysis of the pension sector employees’ perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on qualitative exploratory research, which includes semi-structured interviews with 13 pension sector employees to investigate their perspectives on agency problems within Turkey’s private pension system. Data from interviews are analyzed by using the thematic content analysis method.

Findings

This study shows us that agency problems are prevalent in Turkey's private pension system, especially in the relations between pension company employees and participants. This study highlights four vulnerabilities of governance structure: the incapacity of governance structure to prevent pension companies as institutional agents from risky operations and transactions, the ability of local capital groups to use their controlling power for effecting fund management operations, the incapacity of the governance structure to prevent the employment of agents with inadequate qualifications, the lack of proper legal and regulatory framework for ensuring sufficient information disclosure to participants during contract-making and fund selection processes.

Originality/value

Previous research on the agency problems in the private pension schemes mostly investigated the issue from the viewpoint of participants. Thus, exploring agency problems from the agents’ point of view will be a contribution to the literature while illuminating the underlying structural problems within the system.

Details

Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4179

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2001

Paul Klumpes

Examines the financial accountability implications arising from the adoption of accrual‐based accounting principles by Australia’s largest public sector employee pension fund

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Abstract

Examines the financial accountability implications arising from the adoption of accrual‐based accounting principles by Australia’s largest public sector employee pension fund manager, the State Authorities Superannuation Board of the Australian State of New South Wales (SASB), during its brief existence from 1988 to 1996. While the adoption of accrual‐based accounting principles increased management’s political accountability concerning the performance of SASB’s commercially‐managed asset portfolio, it reduced the level of generational accountability concerning the under‐funding of its major pension fund, the State Authorities Superannuation Scheme (the SAS). Negative political visibility associated with management’s voluntary compliance with a controversial financial reporting standard, together with government’s adoption of accrual accounting, resulted in two major changes in the SASB’s organizational structure. The impact of political visibility on the generational accountability behavior of SASB management is examined by comparing stock and flow funding trends of the SAS over time.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 March 2021

Luis Otero-González, Pablo Durán-Santomil, Rubén Lado-Sestayo and Milagros Vivel-Búa

This paper analyses whether the active management and the fundamentals of the pension fund allow products that beat their peers to be identified in terms of risk-adjusted…

2737

Abstract

Purpose

This paper analyses whether the active management and the fundamentals of the pension fund allow products that beat their peers to be identified in terms of risk-adjusted performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample is composed of all the pension funds active in the period 2000 to 2017 investing in the Eurozone. What this means is that a greater similarity is guaranteed in terms of benchmark, assets available for investment and currency. All the data have been retrieved from the Morningstar Direct database.

Findings

The paper reveals that the degree of concentration and value for money are important determinants of performance. In this sense, the strategies of investing in concentrated portfolios that differ from the benchmark and with undervalued assets in terms of price earnings ratio (PER)-return on assets (ROA) achieve better results.

Originality/value

This is one of the few papers that shows the effect of active management and value investing strategies’ on the performance of pension funds.

研究目的

本文旨在分析、我們能否根據退休基金的積極管理及其基本原理, 找到就風險調整表現而言之最優勝產品.

研究設計/方法

我們的樣本包括於2000年至2017年期間活躍於歐元區內投資活動的所有退休基金。這意味著、樣本確保了相關之退休基金就基準、可供投資的資產及貨幣而言、均擁有較大的相似性。所有數據均從晨星基金資料庫檢索得來的。.

研究結果

本文顯示、集中程度和價值比率是決定表現的重要因素。在這個意義上說,如投資在與基準不同的及附有就本益比 – 資產收益率 (PER - ROA) 而言被低估的資產的那些集中投資組合上, 這會是效果較佳的策略.

研究的原創性

探討積極管理和價值投資策略如何影響退休基金表現的學術研究為數不多, 本文乃屬這類研究。.

Details

European Journal of Management and Business Economics, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2444-8451

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1980

Stephen Witt and Richard Dobbins

The implications of modern portfolio theory for pension fund investment management are examined and compared with actual behaviour. It appears that the extent to which pension

Abstract

The implications of modern portfolio theory for pension fund investment management are examined and compared with actual behaviour. It appears that the extent to which pension funds diversify goes far beyond that required for risk reduction, and therefore possible alternative motives are suggested. There is also some evidence of excessive equity trading.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. 6 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 May 2023

Myungjoo Kang, Inwook Song and Seiwan Kim

This study aims to empirically analyze the asset allocation capabilities of Outsourced Chief Investment Officers (OCIOs) in Korea. The empirical analysis used data from 35 funds

Abstract

This study aims to empirically analyze the asset allocation capabilities of Outsourced Chief Investment Officers (OCIOs) in Korea. The empirical analysis used data from 35 funds that were evaluated by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance from 2012 to 2020. The results of the analysis are summarized as follows. First, this study found that funds that adopted OCIO improved their asset allocation performance. Second, the sensitivity between risk-taking and performance decreased for funds that adopted OCIO. Third, it is found that OCIO adoption improves a fund's asset management execution (tactical capabilities). This study has methodological limitations in which the methodology used in this study is not based on theoretical prior research, but on practical applications. However, considering the need to clearly analyze the capabilities of OCIO and the timeliness of the topic, this study is valuable and can provide meaningful information to funders who are considering adopting OCIO in the future.

Details

Journal of Derivatives and Quantitative Studies: 선물연구, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1229-988X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2016

Chinyere Uche, Emmanuel Adegbite and Michael John Jones

The purpose of this paper is to investigate institutional shareholder activism in Nigeria. It addresses the paucity of empirical research on institutional shareholder activism in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate institutional shareholder activism in Nigeria. It addresses the paucity of empirical research on institutional shareholder activism in sub-Saharan Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses agency theory to understand the institutional shareholder approach to shareholder activism in Nigeria. The data are collected through qualitative interviews with expert representatives from financial institutions.

Findings

The findings indicate evidence of low-level shareholder activism in Nigeria. The study provides empirical insight into the reasons why institutional shareholders might adopt an active or passive approach to shareholder activism. The findings suggest the pension structure involving two types of pension institutions affects the ability to engage in shareholder activism.

Research limitations/implications

The research study advances our understanding of the status quo of institutional shareholder activism in an African context such as Nigeria.

Practical implications

The paper makes a practical contribution by highlighting that regulators need to consider how the financial market conditions and characteristics affect effective promotion of better governance practices and performance through shareholder activism.

Originality/value

This study draws attention to the implication for shareholder activism of complexities associated with an institutional arrangement where two types of financial institutions are expected to operate and manage the private pension funds in a country.

Details

Corporate Governance, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-0701

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1993

ROBIN ELLISON

This paper describes the legal background to the Maxwell scandal in which about £500m of pension fund money was stolen, analyses some of the supposed flaws in the current…

Abstract

This paper describes the legal background to the Maxwell scandal in which about £500m of pension fund money was stolen, analyses some of the supposed flaws in the current arrangements for the regulation of pension schemes, and suggests possible revisions to the current law, anticipating the report of the Goode Committee on Pensions Law Reform, due in late 1993.

Details

Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, vol. 1 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1358-1988

Article
Publication date: 27 May 2014

Roberta Adami, Orla Gough, Suranjita Mukherjee and Sheeja Sivaprasad

This paper aims to examine the investment performance of pension funds in the UK using the three standard performance measurement models, the capital asset pricing model (CAPM)…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the investment performance of pension funds in the UK using the three standard performance measurement models, the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), Fama-French model and the Carhart model.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use the CAPS-Mellon survey data for the period 1990-2008 and employ the three standard performance measurement models, the CAPM, Fama-French model and the Carhart model in assessing the investment performance of the pension funds.

Findings

The authors show that the abnormal returns of pension funds cannot be fully explained by size, book-to-market values, market returns, momentum and the term spread. The authors find larger abnormal returns in bond than in equity portfolios and that smaller funds outperform larger funds. The paper also shows that the addition of the momentum factor does not improve on the three-factor Fama-French model. The authors find that pension funds exhibit superior performance relative to the linear factor models.

Research limitations/implications

First, this study contributes to the extant literature on pension funds performance. Future research may also extend the authors' work to incorporate economic, tax, political and legal differences across the countries on the performance of pension funds. Second, due to data constraints, this study excludes the default probability of corporate bonds as an additional variable in their tests on bond returns. Future work may add the default probability as an additional variable whilst examining bond returns.

Practical implications

The authors believe that the findings will be considerable food for thought for fund managers who continuously attempt to explore opportunities to provide a higher return to investors.

Originality/value

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study that investigates the performance of UK equity and bond pension funds relative to standard linear factor models such as the CAPM, Fama and French, and Carhart.

Details

Studies in Economics and Finance, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1086-7376

Keywords

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