UK pension funds’ patience and liquidity in the age of market-based finance

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Pension funds have often failed to meet expectations in terms of providing ‘patient capital’. Explanations for this lapse have ranged over regulatory and ideational factors. We argue that a new ‘impatient’ phenomenon is emerging that requires further explanation: pension funds are becoming more mindful of their liquidity and collateral management, and engage in pro-cyclical investment behaviour. We show how UK pension funds have adapted their investment strategies, investing significantly in collective funds, including in foreign and in “alternative assets”, and setting aside protection assets as collateral for their derivatives and repo transactions. This behaviour has increased pension funds' exposure to and participation in liquidity spirals, forcing them to dispose of assets during crises and contributing to the overall pro-cyclicality of the contemporary market-based financial system. This was most recently highlighted by the instability of UK government bond markets in September 2022. Drawing from Minsky and the emerging literature on Critical Macro-Finance, we argue that this new pension fund behaviour is in response to structural changes in the financial markets in which they operate.Peer reviewe

Undefined Benefit: Fixing the UK Pensions System

© Common Wealth 2022

Identifying and preserving bison lineages: A case study of the National Bison Range lineage

While over 500,000 bison exist today, the long-term conservation of this species is not assured because only five percent of all bison are maintained in conservation herds and genetic evidence of domestic cattle introgression has been detected in nearly all herds evaluated to date. Prior to the introduction of domestic cattle DNA into the National Bison Range (Montana, USA) herd in the 1980s, historical records indicate that four separate herds were formed in Alaska (USA) using bison from the National Bison Range lineage. Bison from these Alaskan herds were examined for the presence of domestic cattle introgression. In addition, 46 nuclear microsatellite markers and mitochondrial sequence data were used to analyze the patterns of genetic diversity and evaluate the relationship of the Alaskan and National Bison Range herds. Neither nuclear nor mitochondrial domestic cattle introgression was detected in the NBR-Alaska bison examined in this study. The bison mitochondrial haplotypes found in the NBR-Alaska herds are consistent with previously identified NBR bison haplotypes. In addition, all of the alleles from the diversity marker panel except for three have been identified in the NBR herd. The identification of sources of bison germplasm without evidence of domestic cattle DNA introgression is crucial for the conservation of the National Bison Range lineage and preservation of the bison species

SYSTEMATIC METHODOLOGY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF A NOVEL AUTOSOMAL DOMINANT RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA DISEASE-CAUSING GENE

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited retinal disease that leads to degeneration of the retina through loss of rod and cone photoreceptor cells and subsequent loss of vision. RP affects approximately 1.5 million people world-wide. Mutations causing autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP) have been identified in 23 different genes. However, these mutations only account for approximately 70% of known adRP cases in Caucasians of Western-European origin and for an even smaller percentage of cases in other ethnicities. My research aims to increase the number of known genes associated with adRP by using an array of advanced genetic techniques to search for the disease-causing gene and mutation in a large African American family that has been clinically diagnosed with adRP. Sanger sequencing, targeted-capture next-generation sequencing (NGS), and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) were used to evaluate and eliminate the known adRP genes as the genetic cause of disease in this family. Whole-genome linkage mapping followed by fine-point haplotype analysis mapped the disease locus to a 7.7 mega-base region on chromosome 19q. Five candidate genes from within this disease locus were chosen based on their biological relevance to RP and analyzed for possible disease-causing mutations. Whole-exome sequencing and whole-genome sequencing were used to identify 63 rare variants located throughout the disease locus that segregate with disease in this family. Additional genetic and bioinformatic analyses were completed to evaluate these variants’ potential to be disease-causing. Despite being unable to single-out the disease-causing mutation from among the variants found to segregate with disease in this family, the wealth of data produced in this study will provide necessary genetic information that will continue to aid others in the search for this family’s disease-causing gene. Once this novel adRP gene is identified, it will provide valuable insights that can be used in the diagnosis and prognosis of RP in this family and in other RP patients identified to have mutations in the same underlying gene. Of more importance, identification of the remaining disease-causing genes for adRP is necessary for the continued success that has been seen in the development of treatments and therapies for RP patients

Pension funds and financialisation in the European Union.

The expansion and innovation of financial markets, commonly known as financialisation, is closely linked to the growth of pension funds. While the conventional narrative is based on the notion of financial development as a positive change, this paper argues that pension funds may induce demand-led pressures on the financial system, generating potential for systemic risk and instability. The rise of pension funds is therefore important for the process of financialisation, as these institutions’ demand for assets continuously sparks growth and innovation in financial markets. In the current context pension funds are attempting to reduce risk by rebalancing their allocations away from equities towards ‘alternatives’, such as hedge funds and private equity. Coupled with the current regulatory trends towards risk-based funding regulation, we argue that pension funds are unlikely to be a stabilising force in financial markets today

Physician-Delivered Weight Management Counseling (PD-WMC)

Introduction: Individuals with excess weight have increased morbidity and mortality compared to those of normal weight, and there are differences in disease risk between overweight and obese men and women. However, limited information on how physicians counsel these groups and on patients’ experiences with weight management counseling (WMC) is available. The goals of this study are to describe specific WMC approaches provided to patients, reported benefit of these strategies, and study participants’ WMC preferences. Methods:103 participants, stratified by BMI (Overweight: 25.0 ≤ BMI ≤ 29.9; Obese: BMI ≥ 30.0) and gender, completed surveys. Survey questions focused on WMC approaches (e.g., discussions about diet, generation of specific weight loss goals) currently provided by physicians, reported benefit of these methods, and patients’ WMC preferences for future care. Frequency counts were used in analysis of all questions. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test (p \u3c .05) were performed to assess significance between stratified groups. Results: Participants reported receiving a wide-range of WMC, from discussions about diet to surgery. Overweight participants and women reported less counseling compared to obese individuals and men, respectively. Compared to men, women reported fewer discussions in areas such as past weight loss attempts (p=0.014) and effects of weight on long-term health (p=0.008). In general, participants found scheduling follow-up appointments most beneficial (72.8%). There were no significant differences by BMI or gender. Overall, participants most preferred that physicians increase support in generating specific strategies to assist in weight loss (74.8%) and in helping them to develop specific weight loss goals (65.1%). By gender, men most preferred increased development of weight loss strategies (70.0%) by their physicians and desired more discussions about the effects of weight on long-term health (63.3%). Women most preferred increased development of specific weight loss strategies (79.2%) as well as increased generation of specific weight loss goals (67.9%) by their physicians. Both overweight and obese participants (68.6% and 80.7%, respectively) sought increased development of weight loss strategies. Conclusions: This appears to be the first cross-sectional study comparing patients’ WMC experiences and preferences, stratified by BMI and gender. Results demonstrate that regardless of BMI and gender, patients want more WMC, with preference for certain strategies. Differences were noted between stratified groups

An Empirical Characterization of Extended Cool Gas Around Galaxies Using MgII Absorption Features

We report results from a survey of MgII absorbers in the spectra of background QSOs that are within close angular distances to a foreground galaxy at z<0.5, using the Magellan Echellette Spectrograph. We have established a spectroscopic sample of 94 galaxies at a median redshift of = 0.24 in fields around 70 distant background QSOs (z_QSO>0.6), 71 of which are in an 'isolated' environment with no known companions and located at rho <~ 120 h^-1 kpc from the line of sight of a background QSO. The rest-frame absolute B-band magnitudes span a range from M_B-5log h=-16.4 to M_B-5log h=-21.4 and rest-frame B_AB-R_AB colors range from B_AB-R_AB~0 to B_AB-R_AB~1.5. Of these 'isolated' galaxies, we find that 47 have corresponding MgII absorbers in the spectra of background QSOs and rest-frame absorption equivalent width W_r(2796)=0.1-2.34 A, and 24 do not give rise to MgII absorption to sensitive upper limits. Our analysis shows that (1) Wr(2796) declines with increasing distance from 'isolated' galaxies but shows no clear trend in 'group' environments; (2) more luminous galaxies possess more extended MgII absorbing halos with the gaseous radius scaled by B-band luminosity according to R_gas=75x(L_B/L_B*)^(0.35+/-0.03) h^{-1} kpc; (3) there is little dependence between the observed absorber strength and galaxy intrinsic colors; and (4) within R_gas, we find a mean covering fraction of ~70% for absorbers of Wr(2796)>=0.3 A and ~80% for absorbers of Wr(2796)>=0.1 A. The lack of correlation between Wr(2796) and galaxy colors suggests a lack of physical connection between the origin of extended MgII halos and recent star formation history of the galaxies. Finally, we discuss the total gas mass in galactic halos as traced by MgII absorbers. We also compare our results with previous studies.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures; to appear in the Astrophysical Journal 2010 May 10 issue; a version with higher resolution figures can be found at http://lambda.uchicago.edu/public/tmp/mage_apj.pd

Electron–Nuclear Interaction in 13C^{13}C Nanotube Double Quantum Dots

For coherent electron spins, hyperfine coupling to nuclei in the host material can either be a dominant source of unwanted spin decoherence or, if controlled effectively, a resource enabling storage and retrieval of quantum information. To investigate the effect of a controllable nuclear environment on the evolution of confined electron spins, we have fabricated and measured gate-defined double quantum dots with integrated charge sensors made from single-walled carbon nanotubes with a variable concentration of $^{13}C$ (nuclear spin $(I=\frac{1}{2})$ among the majority zero-nuclear-spin $^{12}C$ atoms. We observe strong isotope effects in spin-blockaded transport, and from the magnetic field dependence estimate the hyperfine coupling in $^{13}C$ nanotubes to be of the order of $100 \mu eV$, two orders of magnitude larger than anticipated. $^{13}C$-enhanced nanotubes are an interesting system for spin-based quantum information processing and memory: the $^{13}C$ nuclei differ from those in the substrate, are naturally confined to one dimension, lack quadrupolar coupling and have a readily controllable concentration from less than one to $10^5$ per electron.Physic