- Finnish earnings-related pension provider, Varma, is acting as the seed investor in a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) from Invesco.

The Invesco MSCI Global Climate 500 ETF (KLMT) has begun trading on the New York Stock Exchange with USD 1.6bn in assets from Varma. Commenting, Varma head of listed securities, Timo Sallinen, said: "We are very pleased to work alongside Invesco, one the world's biggest asset managers, and MSCI, a leading global index provider, to create an ETF tailored to Varma's systematic investment preferences. Our USD 1.6bn investment in KLMT will help us meet our principles for responsible investing and give us more flexibility for investing our €61bn assets."

- Sweden’s Polhem Infra, which is jointly owned by AP1, AP3 and AP4, and the Church of Sweden have agreed to develop three solar parks corresponding to approximately 260 MWp, making the collaboration one of the largest investments in solar power in Sweden today.

The solar farms, which are located in southern and central Sweden, together represent just over 7 per cent of the total installed capacity from solar power in Sweden. The investment is an important part of Polhem Infra's long-term strategy to invest in renewable energy to achieve the goal of climate neutrality by 2040. Polhem Infra currently has a total solar power pipeline of more than 460 MWp, where several of the parks are based on cooperation with local actors. All solar power investments are made in collaboration with Solkompaniet, with whom Polhem Infra has had a framework agreement for some time.

- Annuity prices in Ireland increased over June as a result of falling core bond yields, according to LCP Ireland’s investment update for June.

The consultancy firm said global equity markets rose by 2.5 per cent (in local currency terms) in June, while Eurozone markets fell 2.5 per cent over the month. US stocks pushed to all-time highs due to a “resilient” US economy and continued momentum in the tech sector. Regarding bonds, LCP Ireland said bond yield changes varied over June with long-dated core Eurozone bond prices rising by 2 per cent over the month and the yield on the AAA Eurozone 15+ Year Index finishing the month at 2.7 per cent, per annum. Prices fell 0.5 per cent on the Euro Broad Sovereign 10+ Year Index, with its yield rising to 3.5 per cent by the end of June.

LCP Ireland said the funding level of its sample DB scheme increased to 106 per cent, as its assets increased more than its liabilities (calculated using a Funding Standard proxy) over June. For its sample DC schemes, its high-risk, medium risk and pension purchase DC strategies posted positive returns over the month.

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