ENTER

HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION

The competition for 2008 is now closed.

The winners will be announced during the IPE European Pension Fund Awards 2008 ceremony on Thursday 20 November in Barcelona.

A special supplement will be published and mailed out to all IPE readers with the december issue of Investment & Pensions Europe.

WHY ENTER? & GUIDELINES

A Swedish fund, which had won a number of Awards over a number of years, said that while winning had very positive results in terms of public relations and human resources, “the real value was in our relations with our members”.

A UK-based fund reckoned that winning shows what is innovative about what the fund is doing. In their case, winning had benefits for relations with the fund’s sponsors and internally it was very good for morale. “Our staff like the recognition that they are doing a good job.”

An Italian winner said that receiving an IPE Award had been helpful for them in getting their message across.  “You collect something you can show.”

HELPFUL POINTS TO ENTER:

Judges and past Awards winners give their views on how best to go about entering your funds in the IPE European Pension Funds Awards:

1.    The format of the IPE Awards asks entrants to submit in 750 words details of ‘an activity in which they have excelled during the 18 months period of January 2007 to June 2008’.  This is deliberately left open so as to encourage entrants to think widely about what could be the subject matter of an award entry. Any aspect of pension funds’ operations from investment and benefits to structure and governance can be included.

2.    One important point from the judges was that the activity should be something, as one put it, that made the fund ‘stand out from the crowd’, regarding either the topic (for example, the investment process) or how it was implemented.

3.    Also important was that the fund should give an explanation as to what they saw as their real achievement in the area in which they excelled.

4.    They should set out their intended objectives and how they were achieved.  Also, if there were any difficulties or objections how these were overcome could be described.

5.    They should be as factual as possible as to how they present their case, for example by giving figures as to performance, cost savings, risk reduction etc, if possible.

6.    Probably (in most, but certainly not in all cases), it was felt that where the fund had achieved something already, this would count for more in the judges’ eyes than an entry that focussed on everything being planned for the future.

7.    It was important to remember that entries for the Themed and European level Awards would be looked at by judges outside your own country, so you should make sure that the achievements you are writing about are explained in such a way that they can be appreciated by someone outside your own country. So if some developments relating to your fund relate to an issue such as high interest rates or lack of a bond market that is particular to your country, this needs to be explained so that non-local judges understand.

8.    The judges stressed the need to explain things in as straightforward a way as possible, with technical words being included as appropriate. The danger with too technical descriptions is that not all judges may be able to understand exactly what the fund is saying.

9.    Be aware of focusing on topical, fashionable or ‘hot’ issues instead of picking on some more day-to-day issue that your fund really tackled well and so could make a strong entry topic for your fund.

10.     It is quite in order to enter a topic again that you have submitted in a previous year, which you consider is still important and relevant, but of course the information relating to it would need to be updated.
 

RULES, TERMS & CONDITIONS

RULES
•    It would assist IPE tremendously if you enter the awards in English but you may enter using your own language. All entries will be treated equally whether in English or another language.
•    There is no limit to the number of entries per fund.
•    The IPE Awards is open to all pension funds and group retirement savings plans based in European countries.
•    The closing date for entries is September 12.
•    Entries must be submitted by email using the official Word entry form. Supporting documents whether electronic or hard copy will not be accepted and will not be passed to the judges.

TERMS & CONDITIONS
•    The judges’ decision will be final. IPE will not enter into any correspondence regarding any aspect of the judging process.
•    If your entry is either short-listed for an award or wins an award you automatically give IPE the right to publish all or part of your entry.
•    IPE will not publish the names nor publish any part of the entry of those funds which enter the awards but are not short-listed or do not win.
•    Each fund must provide IPE with a copy of their logo (if they have one) regardless of whether they are either short-listed for or win an award. IPE will only use the logos for those funds which are either short-listed for an award or win an award.
•    Logos must be supplied high resolution (300dpi) in the following formats: jpeg, tiff, eps.
•    IPE will not inform in advance those entries which are either short-listed for an award or win an award. The winners for all categories, as well as those short-listed for silver and gold awards will be announced for the first time at the IPE Awards 2008 to be held at the MNAC on November 20th 2008.

FAQ - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How does IPE select the judges?
Many of the judges have been involved since the first IPE Awards in 2001. We originally approached a mixture of local and international consultants based on their reputation. Since 2001, several consultants have approached IPE and asked if they can be included and we have agreed. Our view is that the more judges there are the better the judging process will be.

Why are consultants asked to be the judges – why not pension funds?
Generally speaking, consultants have a good overview of the standards of pension funds in their country based on their exposure to a range of clients. We prefer not to ask pension funds to judge because they might feel unable to enter their own funds for the awards.

Are consultants biased towards their own clients?
Consultants usually refuse to judge entries submitted by their own clients. They judge the entries of pension funds who use other consultants and those who do not use consultants. IPE believes that the vast majority of consultants are professional enough not to allow any bias into the judging process.

How can judges compare entries from large and small funds presenting distinctly differing processes?
There has to be a certain amount of subjective analysis. It simply is not possible to create a purely quantitative scoring system which will identify the best pension fund in any one market or the best example of a particular strategy. One of the reasons that IPE asks local consultants to be judges on a market-by-market basis is because they are best placed to make an intelligent judgement based on their local expertise.

Why don’t you publish the full results of the judging process?
From the very start, pension funds have told IPE that they do not want publicity if they enter but do not win an Award. Because of this, we decided to keep entries confidential and only publish the names of those who have won or been short-listed for an Award. There may come a time when the majority of pension funds will be prepared to enter the IPE Awards openly but we will continue to respect their requirement for anonymity for the foreseeable future.

How many funds can I enter?
Many corporations and some public sector funds are responsible for managing more than one pension fund. You may, for instance, have a primary defined benefit fund and a newer defined contribution fund. Or you may be managing different company funds within one group. You may enter as many of these funds as you wish (at either Country and/or Themed Award level) so long as you take care to explain the differences. However, we will not accept multiple entries from insurance companies running institutional insured funds.

Can I enter using my own language?
Yes. The IPE Awards has always allowed pension funds to enter using their own language because all the Country Awards are judged by local consultants. Winning entries are then translated into English for the European judges who come from a variety of countries. However, it will greatly assist IPE if you enter in English because we also have to translate the entries into English for the Themed Awards.