| Small is beautiful for DB schemes This week saw Gill Wadsworth, Institutional Asset Manager’s editor, reporting that small is beautiful for smaller DB schemes. The trend to buyout among the UK’s smaller defined benefit (DB) schemes continues with a slew of new sub GBP100 million deals announced this month alone, she says.
K3 Advisory, a specialist independent bulk annuity and consolidator consultancy, reported that it oversaw the completion of seven small scheme buy-ins ranging from GBP25 million to just GBP4 million in assets.
Adam Davis, Managing Director at K3 Advisory, says: "Small schemes have historically faced some challenges to access the same competitive levels of pricing as their larger counterparts. However, that has changed, and these transactions clearly show that insurance transactions are entirely achievable options for small schemes if they’re prepared and ready."
This week also saw publication of Kepler Absolute Hedge’s Market Intelligence Report for Q1 2024. Matthew Barrett, Partner and Head of Manager Research at Kepler Partners, says: "Following a somewhat difficult period for the Alternative UCITS universe in recent quarters, green shoots are emerging and the backdrop for hedge fund strategies remains compelling. Though Q1 saw a further contraction in AUM, the pace of outflows has slowed and some strategy cohorts, including Credit, Managed Futures and Volatility Arbitrage, are growing. Q1 performance has also been strong across the industry; the AH Global Index achieved positive performance for its fifth consecutive quarter, with Managed Futures a particular bright spot."
We also had Burton Taylor International Consulting, part of TP ICAP’s Parameta Solutions division, publishing its report on global index revenues in 2023, revealing that they are up by 9.3 per cent to USD5.8 billion.
MSCI, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and LSEG FTSE Russell account for more than 70 per cent of total index revenue, the firm found, while assets under management in ETFs rose by 26 per cent to USD11.4 trillion. The study can be found here.
ETF asset growth is apparently never ending and over on IAM’s sister title, ETF Express, we have our latest podcast discussing the differences in distribution models between the US and the more fragmented market in Europe. ETF Express’s Off the Record, brought to you in partnership with Truss Edge, features Bux Group’s Yorick Naeff representing Europe, and Brinker Capital Investments’s Nicholas Codola representing the US and discussing the issues. You can listen here.
Beverly Chandler, Managing Editor, Institutional Asset Manager
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