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Gender pay gaps, regulation, ESG, Scope 3, and how to do your job as a Chief Operating Officer to the best of your ability were all topics that featured in the top 10 of our most read articles on the site this year.

Last year the top spot went to an article on the evolution of the bulk annuities market, which, oddly some might say, was barely a topic that was mentioned this year.

Instead, obviously to some, it was artificial intelligence. Or AI, AI, AI, that was the inescapable topic for the industry. Were you using it? Were you going to use it? If not, why? Would it destroy the world? But in the meantime would it reduce the operational burden? These were all questions being asked on a weekly basis. It featured heavily in several of the articles here.

Read on below to see what else was getting visitors to the site clicking this year.

10. FCA sets out temporary measures for companies on ‘naming and marketing’ sustainability rules

The UK’s regulatory body, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which we covered so many times this year, announced its plans in September to offer companies “temporary flexibility to comply with ‘naming and marketing’ rules under our Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime until 2 April 2025”.

The SDR and investment labels regime (PS23/16) were published in November 2023 after much consultation with the industry. 

9. Scope 3 remains unpopular with US asset managers

Mandating Scope 3 disclosures remains unpopular amongst US asset management firms, said Morningstar in a report from March that discussed the topic and how it was impacting the market.

In the paper, “Voting Policies: Still No Consensus on Climate or Social Issues” by Linsdey Stewart, Director of Investment Stewardship Research at the company, the evidence showed that US manager policies reflected a wide-ranging set of views, but that many were shying away from taking a more substantive stance on ESG-related issues when voting.

8. What operational effects does the gender pay gap have?

The corporate US is making progress on resolving the gender pay gap, but there is still a large amount of work to do in the asset management and investment sector, said our article on it in March.

This finding comes from a new report by Arjuna Capital, Proxy Impact, and DiversIQ – the seventh annual Racial and Gender Pay Scorecard – which ranked how the largest 100 US companies, as well as companies engaged with by investors, stacked up on pay gap disclosure and performance.

7. How to link transformation with target operating model aims

In the first of the interviews featuring in the top 10, Sahem Gulati, Head of Strategy & Consulting at M&G plc, shared his thoughts in February on why linking transformation with target operating models is such a hot topic, as well as things to consider when designing an operating model, and how to deliver on your transformation agenda.

“The operating model acts as an enabler of strategy. If I use the analogy of a ship, the captain (or the CEO) sets the direction (the strategy); the operating model is the engine room that will enable you to get there,” he said. “It's critical to the way your business functions.”

6. LTAFs remain a controversial topic

The advent of Long-Term Asset Funds (LTAFs) remained an issue of contention among the participants in the opening panel discussion at the Private Markets Investor | Europe 2024 event in London on Thursday 21 March, with the panellists being almost entirely in their favour. However, there was more scepticism from the audience.

The discussion, which was titled “The advent of pension innovations – CDCs, LTAFs, and pension consolidators – and insurance solvency reforms: What is the opportunity and outlook for greater investment in illiquid assets, and what are the operational hurdles?”, focused on prospects for reform and new ideas coming down the pipeline.

5. EU signs off on “AI Act” - what does it mean?

In May, the European Union member states gave final agreement to the world’s first major law for regulating artificial intelligence (AI), as different institutions and jurisdictions looked on to see what rules were needed to regulate AI, which we covered.

The rules, dubbed the “AI Act”, aim to “[foster] the development and uptake of safe and trustworthy AI systems across the EU’s single market by both private and public actors.” 

The European Council’s statement on the ‘green light’ for the Act added that, at the same time, the rules will enable safer handling of AI – with “aims to ensure respect of fundamental rights of EU citizens and stimulate investment and innovation on AI in Europe”. 

4. How do you achieve trust and fairness in fund and asset valuation policies?

The balance between technology and people is paramount to building trust around valuations and pricing, said a panel discussion at our Private Markets Investor | Europe 2024 event in London in March and the second article from that event to feature on the list.

The panel said that trust between stakeholders was imperative to enabling more robust fund and asset valuation policies – and, to achieve this, there needed to be a better balance between technology and people throughout the process.

The panel, which was moderated by Soojin Kim, AVP, Head of ESG Research at Preqin, featured Conor McNaughton, Chief Operating Officer at Kingsway Capital, Manish Sarwal, Head of Commercial Asset Management at Impax Asset Management, and Rob Knight, Managing Director at RRAK Advisory.

It focused on developing better, more thorough, and more transparent procedures, as well as managing personal relationships when competing priorities and tight timeframes might cause friction.

3. SFDR continues to effect flows from funds

In May we covered how the continued uncertainty around possible consequences of mis-labelling funds has driven more investors and fund managers to leave ESG-compliant funds in Q1 2024 in favour of those that are either not compliant or only semi-compliant.

This was according to research from Morningstar, which showed that in the first quarter of 2024, flows into Article 8 funds rebounded and netted “€14 billion of new money after three quarters of outflows”, whilst others did not.

“Inflows were driven by fixed income and passive strategies,” said Morningstar’s report, “SFDR Article 8 and Article 9 Funds: Q1 2024 in Review”.

2. Happier staff more effective for fund operators

In September, we reported that a new US study shows that fund operators that care more holistically for culture and people management see better returns.

So, what could this mean for HR practices?

The index was designed to look at stock picking in a way that largely abandoned traditional financial metrics in favour of a system designed to select companies based on how happy their workers are.

In October 2022, Irrational Capital company created their thematic ETF based on the proposition that “happier employees lead to stronger stock returns”.

1.  How can COOs manage the regulatory burden?

Back in February, Lounarda David, Chief Operating Officer (COO), at Australian superannuation fund IFM Investors, shared her views on what makes an effective COO and how to succeed in today’s regulation-heavy world especially with Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“I am seeing several changes in the market that provide opportunities for organisations that are proactive and prepared [around AI],” she said. “Conversely, those who jump in without caution will likely have a bumpy road ahead.

“The private markets industry is having its day in the sun. Investors across the board are recognising the benefits of these asset classes and are facing the challenges of attempting to administer them. I would expect more players offering products in this area, and more investors seeking long term stable returns.”

Thank you for reading and we look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Now - the question is: what will the big themes and stories be that comprise the top 10 for 2025?

 

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