{"id":245577,"date":"2025-10-28T12:20:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/245577\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T12:20:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:20:21","slug":"private-equity-executives-flock-to-pensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/245577\/","title":{"rendered":"Private equity executives flock to pensions"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a> to get it delivered every Monday. Explore all of our newsletters here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Does the format, content and tone work for you? Let me know: emma.dunkley@ft.com<\/a><\/p>\n

One scoop to start: Cutting the annual cash Isa allowance could hit mortgage lending and lead to 60,000 fewer home loans<\/a> a year in a blow to first-time buyers, according to the Building Societies Association.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s newsletter:<\/p>\n

Private equity industry faces an exodus<\/p>\n

Can Fidelity keep its grip on America\u2019s investments?<\/p>\n

Overseas renminbi lending surges <\/p>\n

Private equity industry faces an exodus<\/p>\n

Private equity professionals are on the lookout for a new home. <\/p>\n

Big pension funds are scooping them up<\/a> as they seek refuge from a downturn in the sector that has restricted the carried interest payments that traditionally made up most of their pay, write Alexandra Heal and Mary McDougall. <\/p>\n

Professionals from mid-market buyout groups in particular have been flooding pension plan recruiters with their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s in a bid to escape the private equity fundraising squeeze.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are finding it easier to attract talent \u2014 not super easy, but much easier than three or four years ago,\u201d said Ralph Berg, chief investment officer at the Ontario pension fund Omers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI suspect a lot of the private equity firms are struggling to hold on to people or maybe they want to manage\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009headcounts too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, which manages assets for public sector pensions, hired about 20 people in the past two years from buyout firms due to \u201cfundraising issues\u201d at those groups, a person familiar with the matter said. BCI\u2019s private equity team has 70 people in total, according to its website.<\/p>\n

The experience of the Canadian pension plans is the latest sign of how a prolonged downturn<\/a>, initially ushered in by 2022 interest rate increases, is rippling through the financial sector.<\/p>\n

The higher cost of borrowing hampered dealmaking and left firms with less cash to return to their institutional backers. This in turn reduced how much money those backers could recycle into new buyout funds.<\/p>\n

Private equity groups raised just $592bn in the 12 months to June, their lowest tally for seven years, data from Preqin shows.<\/p>\n

Can Fidelity keep its grip on America?<\/p>\n

Fidelity Investments might not steal the limelight like some of its listed and higher profile rivals such as BlackRock and Charles Schwab, but it has quietly and relentlessly grown into a sprawling financial behemoth<\/a> over the decades.<\/p>\n

Despite humble roots as a US equity manager in 1946, Fidelity now oversees $16.4tn of customers\u2019 money and directly manages $6.4tn of assets, making it one of the world\u2019s largest asset managers, writes Emma Dunkley.<\/p>\n

Its $32.7bn of revenues last year, a 16 per cent increase on 2023, were more than 50 per cent higher than those of BlackRock, the world\u2019s largest listed asset manager.<\/p>\n

So how has it evolved from an equity boutique into a financial powerhouse <\/a>under Abigail \u201cAbby\u201d Johnson and can it remain relevant to younger generations?<\/p>\n

\u201cFidelity\u2019s scale is a major contributor to its success,\u201d says Goshka Folda, global head of research at ISS Market Intelligence. \u201cBut the scale itself has long been accompanied by what I perceive to be a clever diversification strategy, from being a product manufacturer to a distribution partner for retail and retirement advisers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Ned Johnson, who took the reins in 1977<\/a>, the firm pushed into distribution and running retirement saving schemes for companies and individuals, which gave the company a presence in the lives of millions of Americans that most other asset managers simply cannot match.<\/p>\n

But Fidelity must adapt<\/a> to the investment habits of younger Americans, who may be more interested in racier asset classes such as cryptocurrencies than the mutual funds that backstopped their parents\u2019 retirements. Fidelity International, a smaller business that operates outside the US, has also failed to replicate Fidelity Investments\u2019 success.<\/p>\n

Still, as a private, family-controlled company, advocates say management can better focus on longer-term strategy and innovation.<\/p>\n

Chart of the week<\/p>\n

Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

China\u2019s overseas lending in renminbi<\/a> is soaring, as Beijing steps up its efforts to expand the currency\u2019s role in international finance and reduce the country\u2019s exposure to the US dollar.<\/p>\n

External renminbi loans, deposits and bond investments by Chinese banks quadrupled to more than Rmb3.4tn ($480bn) over the past five years, as policymakers more aggressively pursue their long-term goal of reducing the centrality of the dollar in global financial flows, write William Sandlund and Haohsiang Ko.<\/p>\n

As part of this campaign, China is also opening more channels for foreign investors to buy renminbi-denominated bonds<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But officials have focused their efforts on boosting the renminbi\u2019s role in trade, partly as a defence against policies enacted in the US and elsewhere that weaponise the dollar \u2014 such as this week\u2019s EU sanctions targeting Chinese banks accused of helping Russia to secure weapons parts overseas.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom China\u2019s perspective, [settlement in renminbi] is important because it shows that no matter what happens, it can still trade,\u201d said Adam Wolfe, emerging markets economist at Absolute Strategy Research in London.<\/p>\n

Recent data from China\u2019s State Administration of Foreign Exchange shows the external fixed-income assets of Chinese banks more than doubling over the past decade to more than $1.5tn, with the share denominated in renminbi expanding rapidly to almost $484bn at the end of June. This includes $360bn of renminbi loans and deposits, up from $110bn in 2020.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the Bank for International Settlements estimates that overseas bank lending in renminbi to borrowers in developing countries rose by $373bn in the four years to the end of March.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe year 2022 marked a turning point away from dollar and euro-denominated credit and towards renminbi-denominated credit\u201d to such borrowers, the BIS said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Five unmissable stories this week<\/p>\n

St James\u2019s Place reported a surge in net inflows<\/a> of \u00a31.76bn over the third quarter just as the UK\u2019s largest wealth manager overhauled its fees for customers and advisers.<\/p>\n

New rules aimed at accelerating the creation of collective defined contribution <\/a>pension schemes will help increase trust in UK retirement savings, the pensions minister Torsten Bell has said.<\/p>\n

Three pension giants including Legal & General have made a fresh \u00a33bn wave of commitments to invest<\/a> in rental homes, infrastructure and fast-growing companies.<\/p>\n

Blackstone has said the era of excess returns<\/a> in private credit has ended, with a golden age of mid-teens returns on private lending having given way to more muted investment results.<\/p>\n

Wealth managers are increasingly seeking to sell semi-liquid funds backing private assets to the mass affluent, raising concerns over retail investors\u2019 understanding of risks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And finally\"\"Bagrave 2020 \u00a9 Mark Blower. Courtesy of the Hayward Gallery<\/p>\n

The Hayward Gallery is playing host to Gilbert & George\u2019s artistic journey, showcasing new pictures created since the start of the millennium.<\/p>\n

The pieces are snappily titled with single words, diving into societal norms and taboos while challenging boundaries of propriety. The exhibition<\/a> navigates themes of hope, fear, corruption, and death.<\/p>\n

The Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre, until January 11<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading. If you have friends or colleagues who might enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them. Sign up here<\/a><\/p>\n

We would love to hear your feedback and comments about this newsletter. Email me at emma.dunkley@ft.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Recommended newsletters for you<\/p>\n

The Week Ahead \u2014 Start every week with a preview of what\u2019s on the agenda. Sign up here<\/a><\/p>\n

Working It \u2014 Everything you need to get ahead at work, in your inbox every Wednesday. Sign up here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to FT Asset Management, our weekly newsletter on the movers and shakers behind a multitrillion-dollar global industry.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,131,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-245577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}