Commentary
Lower-income countries generate highest reserves growth
Most reserves portfolios appear to have weathered the Covid-19 crisis well
Few central banks consider climate risk within benchmarks
Despite central banks supporting mandatory climate risk disclosures, very few account for it in their benchmarks
Half of reserve managers use bespoke index benchmarks
Those using external managers can choose bespoke, but public indexes remain predominant
Asia tops rankings for reserves coverage ratios
Asia leads across three main metrics, but the region may be moderating its holdings
Europe leads on reserve manager salaries
Central banks pay a wide range of salaries to their reserve managers
Many Paris Agreement signatories do not use ESG screens
Most reserve managers fail to take environmental factors into account for FX portfolios
Emerging markets act as standard bearers for tranching
Nearly two-thirds of reserve managers tranche; largest allocations made to investment tranche
Lower-income nations invest more with external managers
Third-party institutions offer staff training and new asset class investments
Collateral posting spreads among swaps users
Following the Bank of England’s example, most derivatives users now have two-way CSAs
Some large reserve managers eschew liquidity stress tests
Majority of central banks test for thin trading, but three in 10 larger managers do not