All IPE articles in April 2002 (Magazine) – Page 3
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Features
Employers lead the flight to defined contribution
The move into defined contribution schemes in Austria had been driven almost entirely by the desire of businesses to remove their pension fund liabilities from their balance sheets. Until 1990 all occupational pension schemes in Austria were book reserve schemes. During the 1970s this created the problem of hidden liabilities ...
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Features
How group control helps local plans
Many multinationals have built up pension arrangements that can become complex when they are consolidated at group level. These frequently contain a mixture of defined benefit and defined contribution schemes. They may be invested directly or indirectly – for example, through insurance policies or investment funds – and may have ...
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Features
Pension schemes - controlling the corporate risk
The ACT is just one of many professional bodies in the investment and finance area, but it sets particularly high standards in its efforts to educate its members. This booklet (fewer than 100 sides of A5, plus a bibliography and glossary) is the latest in their series; it brings together ...
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Features
DC gives more flexibility in Norway
Historically, retirement plans in Norway have been predominantly defined benefit but legislation that came into effect on 1 January 2001 now permits tax qualified defined contribution plans. One of the stated goals for this new law is to encourage pension provision for the 1m or so Norweigan workers without any ...
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Features
Good decisions need freedom
Continental European pension fund managers have more confidence in their pension fund boards and investment committees than UK counterparts have in their trustees. This was one of the findings to emerge from the Global Asset Study conference organised by benefits consultants Watson Wyatt in Brussels last month. In an electronic ...
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Features
That old eggs-and-baskets question
The collapse of the US energy giant Enron, and the impact of this on the company’s pensions plan, has placed a question mark above defined contribution (DC) schemes in general and 401(k) plans in particular. More than 60% of Enron’s 401(k) retirement plan was invested in company stock and Enron ...
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Features
Overcoming EU roadblocks
The Financial Services Policy Group has met in Brussels to consider the political obstacles to the action plan, which includes the pensions directive and the Lamfalussy report. The group discussed political obstacles to, among other things, the proposed pension fund directive (IP/00/1141) with the aim of paving the way for ...
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Features
'Sweet spot in Europe'
Indexed asset management worldwide was given its annual work-out in Barcelona at the World Cup of Indexing, organised by IMN, and was found to be in good shape, despite the assault of poor equity markets. The development of indexing in Europe was put in context by Massoud Mussavian of Goldman ...
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Features
GRAM expects markets rebound
The keys to an economic upswing are again households in the US. The question is whether they will increase spending or focus on the rising unemployment and therefore be cautious. Until the market participants become more confident about a recovery, the financial markets could be quite volatile, and we recommend ...
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Features
Funds' fees under scrutiny
The attraction for Belgian institutional investors of investing through funds is understandable. The Belgian market is a small one, and the size of the average pension fund makes investment funds the easiest and quickest way of achieving portfolio diversification. Also there are good fiscal reasons for investors taking this indirect ...
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Features
Large value focus
Every month in IPE we analyse the portfolio style of a fund using the return-based portfolio analyser developed by London-based firm Style Research. This month we have chosen the DIT-Dresdner US Equity fund, managed by Dresdner International Management Services in Dublin. The graph shows the changes in style the fund ...
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Features
Looking forward to a last-quarter recovery
Euroland’s equity markets are gearing up for what analysts expect will be an unhindered recovery and sustained period of growth. “Finally things are looking good for investors, especially given the continuous sensitive nature with which investors have been approaching Europe’s markets vis-à-vis risk strategies for the last 18 months or ...
