Public reserve funds, SWFs to boost exposure to new markets, alternatives
Institutions see challenges in increased portfolio diversity, State Street survey shows
Wednesday people roundup
State Street Global Advisors, Babson Capital, BlackRock, Hymans Robertson, AMP Capital, LCP, Affiliated Managers Group
German regional bank Nord LB joins financial sector scheme BVV
Bank signs new employees up with Germany’s largest Pensionskasse
Shell schemes join forces with college on training of board members
Pension plans seek to ‘set example’ on competence, governance
ABP backs calls for asset manager penalty clause
Largest European pension fund says it should work with PFZW to agree contracts that penalise managers for underperformance
Dutch manager doubles stake in Indian hotel joint venture
APG grows investment in Indian hotel chain, increasing stake to 13%
ABP ignores own rules on nuclear investments, argues pressure group
’Investments go beyond legal ones following Non-Proliferation Treaty’
Rising interest rates and falling inflation dent Unilever scheme's results
Fund saw net result of 1.9% despite 8.7% return on investments, boosted largely by listed and private equity holdings
QinetiQ DB scheme sees funding boost after sponsor sells US arm
Sale contribution to shave off a quarter of scheme’s deficit, made in addition to existing recovery plan
Swiss government collects data on conversion rate and IAS19
Swiss authorities prepare case for lowering minimum conversion rate to 6% under proposed reform package
Diversified Growth Funds under pressure to cut fees
Consultants seek changes from DGF managers as 75bp cap looms on default workplace pensions
BP names interim chief executive following Bridgeland departure
Company says permanent replacement to be ‘subject to future announcement’
Five largest Dutch schemes report stable funding in Q1
ABP, PFZW see results of 3.1% and 3.3% respectively as discount rate falls
Irish sovereign fund 'very interested' in small-scale PPP
NPRF’s head of investments details interest in infrastructure projects, equity finance for domestic companies
Thursday people roundup
Greater Manchester, Ancala Partners, Neuberger Berman, BNP Paribas, Pioneer, Allfunds
PNO Media puts merger with PGB on ice
Dutch journalists’ fund to watch sector developments and consolidation before deciding future direction
Digital Edition
Registered users are entitled to the first digital issue of IPE with the compliments of the IPE.com team.
IORP II criticised as restrictive 'corset' by German association
Association for German company schemes warns quantitative guidelines, akin to Solvency II, could still be introduced
Finnish pensions body slams IORP demand for benefits statement
Requirement for statement to members puts pension funds at cost disadvantage to insurers, association says
Investors welcome greater transparency for infrastructure debt
European Commission throws support behind number of proposals to encourage long-term financing
Denmark's F&P decries lack of capital requirements in IORP II Directive
New prudential framework should create level playing field, pensions industry association says
EC should spur demand for long-term investment, says Finland's TELA
Dutch Pensions Federation warns of IORP II 'communications overkill'
Retention of full funding requirement 'opposite to EC’s objective'
Commission moves to increase transparency of infrastructure loan market
NAPF bemoans IORP II lobbying after cross-border funding fiasco
Solvency for pensions only possible from 'position of zero' – PensionsEurope
Last-minute changes to IORP II Directive spark confusion
IORP II: Not bad but could do better
IORP II to require assessment of environmental, resource risk of investments
IORP II to remove EU member states' ability to cap equity exposure
IORP II to revise investment guidelines, introduce remuneration policies
IORP II Directive to be 'less regulation, more politics', promises Barnier
German industry fears IORP II will be 'stab in heart' for company schemes
Paying dividends?
What is your current thinking on equity investment?
Sailing towards sustainability
Antony Barker, of the UK Santander Group Pension Scheme, tells Jonathan Williams how his fund is on a path towards sustainability, and how property and consumer disposable income play a key role in the new asset allocation
Global expectations
“What makes businesses interesting is how they adapt to a global changing world,” declares John Calamos, founder, chairman, CEO and co-CIO of Calamos Investments. Having set up the firm in 1977, listed it on Nasdaq in 2004 and reached an AUM peak of $49bn (€36bn) in 2007, he is now overseeing a transformation that he intends will take it on a journey from a predominantly US focussed firm to a global fund management company.
Cautious, Swiss and international
As an institutional manager and provider of institutional-type investment management services to private banks, including within its own group, Pictet Asset Management (PAM) clearly stands apart from the private banking fraternity.
Long-term relationships
How do you use consultants?
Two sides to private equity
A recent NBER working paper suggested that private equity delivered absolutely no risk-and-cost-adjusted return beyond what is available in public markets. Anthony Harrington takes a closer look at this surprising finding
Banking on emerging markets
Financial services may be a less stretched way to get exposure to the emerging consumer, writes David Turner. But will stockpicking shield investors from these markets’ credit crunches?
Long tech, short toil
Bob Swarup likens today’s environment with the second industrial revolution and the six-year depression it unleashed, and advises investors to get on the right side of the current technological revolution
Time to pool resources
Leen Preesman asks the CEOs of PGGM and PKA about their co-operation plans and about the development of supplementary pensions in Europe
Thomas Richter CEO BVI, Germany’s asset management association
“Auto enrolment would make sense in Germany and could develop through collective bargaining”
ESG lacks something
No, I haven’t had a damascene conversion to become an ESG critic. Rather, my argument is that the ESG (environment, social and governance) community needs to add another ‘E’, for economics.
DB, DC and all that
Wasserdicht’s Dutch pension fund is one of the few that has maintained a strong solvency ratio throughout the crisis of the past few years.
Debbie Harrison Visiting professor The Pensions Institute, Cass Business School, UK
“The most important factor that determines the outcome in DC pensions is the member charge, not the investment strategy”
Lessons from Davos
Who would have thought that Davos would take over from the dormant Occupy movement on the issue on ‘inequality’? Or that five years after the crisis the financial sector would still be top of the WEF Global Risks register?
The twain shall meet
The figures speak for themselves when it comes to the development of defined contribution (DC) pension assets. Defined benefit (DB) pensions accounted for over 60% of the total assets in Towers Watson’s annual Global Pension Asset Study 10 years ago but that share is now 53% and falling; the annual growth of DC assets was 8.8% over the past 10 years compared with 5% for DB assets.
Beyond the glib view
Credit rating agencies did not cover them- selves in glory in the financial crisis, particularly when it came to the rating of sub-prime credit instruments. While the main ones have taken steps to put their house in order, the EU has targeted the perceived mechanistic over-reliance of institutions on external ratings.
Three is a magic number
Ever since US 10-year yields bounced off of a low of 1.4% in July 2012, the investing commentariat has been predicting the end of the bond bull market and sky-high levels for benchmark rates.
Engaging with the engine of Europe
Of the nearly 270 signatories of the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment - which includes a pledge to be active, engaged shareholders - there are only six German pension funds. While the picture in neighbouring Austria, where only one fund has pledged allegiance, and Switzerland – with just three pension supporters – is comparably low, in terms of engagement, it is a matter of comparing apples with oranges.
Farmland, infrastructure and ESG
At this year’s National Association of Pension Funds Investment Conference, delegates gathered in Edinburgh looking to bridge ideas and investment strategies for the future. Sessions on smart beta, liability-driven investing (LDI) and multi-asset solutions were popular.
Minister courts schemes on PIP
Danny Alexander, a senior Treasury minister in the UK government, has called on pension funds to invest more in infrastructure.
Real estate
Bulk annuity Britain: How the market will change
After the recent changes announced in the UK Budget, how will the bulk annuity market change in future?
Unipension sells 31 Danish properties in real estate strategy overhaul
Buyer demand highest for residential, centrally located commercial real estate
German regional bank Nord LB joins financial sector scheme BVV
Bank signs new employees up with Germany’s largest Pensionskasse
Dutch manager doubles stake in Indian hotel joint venture
APG grows investment in Indian hotel chain, increasing stake to 13%
Santander scheme targets disposable income in leisure property deals
Head of pensions at banking group outlines scheme’s interest in distressed situations where property values can be realised over a decade
