Post-crisis pension fund strategic asset allocation

Pension investing is a long-term game – but the financial crisis forced most funds to adjust their strategies to meet the demands of short-term volatility. The impact of this experience has been felt differently across Europe. Clive Davidson reports

The financial crisis didn’t so much send investment and risk management strategies off course as blow them right out of the water. Common assumptions proved ill-founded, while conventional market theories suddenly looked naïve and hopelessly optimistic. Investors have had to review their approach and try to adjust to a new world characterised by uncertainty, and no-one is affected by this more than pension funds, whose whole rationale is to protect, and hopefully grow, savings capital over time