- Stichting Pensioenfonds Medisch Specialisten (SPMS) and BlackRock Netherlands have agreed to extend their long-standing fiduciary services partnership, continuing a collaboration that has lasted 15 years.

Both parties highlighted the strength of their relationship and the added value of BlackRock’s global expertise, particularly in sustainability and the upcoming Dutch pension transition. The renewed agreement underscores SPMS’s confidence in BlackRock’s portfolio management capabilities and its understanding of the Dutch pension landscape.

- A beehive has been installed on the roof of Keva, the Finnish public pension provider.

The aim of the joint initiative with the HumbleBee Housing Project is to support research and biodiversity. The bees have settled in well to their new home, which they moved into in May, and have multiplied rapidly during the spring and early summer. What was originally a community of 20,000 honeybees has now grown to a community of 50,000 bees.

- During June, the funding level of LCP Ireland’s sample defined benefit (DB) scheme remained at 104 per cent, its latest investment update has revealed.

However, over the month, annuity prices experienced a general fall as bond prices fell. For its sample defined contribution (DC) schemes, its high-risk and medium-risk DC strategies posted positive returns over the month, while the pension purchase DC strategy experienced a fall.

- Norges Bank Investment Management and UNICEF have published reporting recommendations and guidance to help companies report on children’s rights online.

Developed in close collaboration with companies and civil society organisations, the initiative aims to promote discussion and transparency. Every day, more than 175,000 children connect to the internet for the first time. Yet an analysis of 195 company reports by UNICEF and BSR shows that fewer than a third of these contain meaningful information about children’s rights online. Children make up over 30 per cent of the world’s population and are a growing proportion of digital users. They face increased risks of exploitation, surveillance, harmful content and discrimination online.

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