Pension

• UK government debt prices have taken an unnerving journey south in the past few days.
• The closely watched ten-year bond has now hit a yield of 4.3%, taking it within a fraction of the level that caused a crisis in autumn 2022.

Why are bond yields close to crisis levels again?

• But it was expected to be down to 8.2%, so it has been a disappointment.
• This is mainly because of core inflation, which strips out things like food and energy that fluctuate a lot.
• Bond yields are rising to reflect that.
• UK gilt yields (ten year v three month)

Are Jeremy Hunt’s latest comments unhelpful?

• The government has set itself the target of halving inflation this year.
• But I don’t think the market is likely to be much influenced by what Hunt is saying.

Is the US debt ceiling row making a difference?

• The debt ceiling is used for political horse-trading in the US.
• As always, there’s a general expectation a deal will be done.

Will yields surpass the levels last autumn?

I’m afraid they probably will rise, roughly in line with the Bank of England base rate. The only unknown is how aggressive the bank will be.

Does that mean another panic for pension funds?

• The problem for pension funds in 2022 was the speed at which yields moved after the mini-budget, around 1.2 points in about four days.
• Pension funds were using UK bonds as collateral on major market bets.
• Also, pension funds have been benefiting from higher interest rates because it means they’re putting more of their money into higher-yielding bonds as previous investments reach maturity.

Are there increased risks of contagion from the US banking crisis?

• Also, US mid-sized banks have had weakened balance sheets because the regulations were relaxed under President Trump, which has made them more vulnerable to bank runs.
• Whether it leads to contagion possibly depends on how aggressively the Bank of England responds to inflation.
• If it just does another two or three 0.25 point rises, the UK banks may come through without serious problems.

• The award maintains Maximus’ position as a leading provider of health assessments to the UK government.
• Since 2015 Maximus has been the only national provider of the Health Assessment Advisory Service on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
• Dr Paul Williams, Division President of Maximus UK, said: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with DWP to deliver the next generation of health and disability assessments.
• Bruce Caswell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Maximus, said: “This award continues our expansion in the UK market.

• The Mather Group, LLC (TMG), a wealth management firm with 15 offices across the country and more than $11.7 billion in combined assets under management (AUM) and assets under advisement (AUA) as of 4/30/23, has announced its acquisition of Clear Perspectives Financial Planning, LLC (Clear Perspectives), a registered investment adviser (RIA) firm based in Cincinnati, OH.
• In 2008, Clear Perspectives was co-founded by Carol Hoffman and Tim Grout, who had each spent many years in senior financial management roles at Procter & Gamble Company.
• Clear Perspectives had approximately $360 million in AUM as of 4/30/23.
• The firm offers a comprehensive range of in-house services, including financial planning, tax advice and preparation, portfolio management, concentrated stock management, risk assessment, and estate planning guidance.

• We welcome capable top players to work together on the high quality of the market," said Ms. Zhang.
• In terms of onshore investment, China's rapidly aging society is a huge growth opportunity for China's asset managers, Ms. Zhang said.
• In terms of assets under management, it is the third largest asset manager in Asia and among the top 50 global asset management companies, according to Investment & Pensions Europe.
• As the end of 2022, Ping An AMC had RMB4.37 trillion (USD637 billion) in assets under management.