All IPE articles in April 2009 (Online) – Page 2

  • AADB to test Mazars' role in PensCorp/ Thresher deal
    News

    AADB to test Mazars' role in PensCorp/ Thresher deal

    2009-04-28T14:45:00Z

    [15:45 CEST 28-04] UK – The UK’s Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB) has launched an investigation into the advice given by an individual and by accounting and consultancy firm Mazars to trustees of the First Quench Pension Fund, which was bought in 2007 through a controversial deal by Pension ...

  • Dutch discount rate set to change – Van Nunen
    News

    Dutch discount rate set to change – Van Nunen

    2009-04-28T14:15:00Z

    [15:15 CEST 28-04] NETHERLANDS – Dutch pension funds are not as poor as they look and calculation methods for liabilities will change to draw a more accurate picture, according to Dutch fiduciary management consultant Anton Van Nunen.

  • APG makes sustainability call to pension funds
    News

    APG makes sustainability call to pension funds

    2009-04-28T13:30:00Z

    [14:30 CEST 28-04] EUROPE - APG Investments, the wholly-owned asset manager of the ABP pension fund, is planning to launch a global real estate sustainability survey with the University of Maastricht.

  • University of Glasgow awards mandate to PwC
    News

    University of Glasgow awards mandate to PwC

    2009-04-27T16:05:00Z

    [17:05 CEST 27-04] UK – The University of Glasgow has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct its scheme administration and actuarial consultancy services.

  • Berkshire completes first set of mandates
    News

    Berkshire completes first set of mandates

    2009-04-27T16:00:00Z

    [17:00 CEST 27-04] UK – The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has confirmed the appointment of three new investment managers for the £1.05bn (€1.17bn) Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund, as part of a diversification strategy.

  • ESB deficit increases €600m in 2008
    News

    ESB deficit increases €600m in 2008

    2009-04-27T16:00:00Z

    [17:00 CEST 27-04] IRELAND – The €2.4bn Electricity Supply Board (ESB) pension scheme has a deficit of almost €2bn following the collapse of investment markets in 2008.

  • Ireland unveils pensions insolvency 'state annuity' scheme
    News

    Ireland unveils pensions insolvency 'state annuity' scheme

    2009-04-27T15:55:00Z

    [16:55 CEST 27-04] IRELAND – The Irish government has unveiled a new payment scheme designed to help members of underfunded defined benefit (DB) schemes when an employer becomes insolvent.

  • Allianz rallies against 'safety pension'
    News

    Allianz rallies against 'safety pension'

    2009-04-27T15:40:00Z

    [16:40 CEST 27-04] AUSTRIA – Calls to introduce a 'safety pension' with a lower calculation rate in Austria will not completely rule out the need for pension cuts, officials at Allianz have argued.

  • News

    KLM adopts new landing position (amended)

    2009-04-27T15:15:00Z

    [16:15 CEST 27-04] NETHERLANDS - The €3.9bn pension fund for KLM’s ground staff is acting like many other Dutch pension funds and anticipates it will only need to raise contributions to recover from its shortfall.

  • Henkel creates global fiduciary pensions structure
    News

    Henkel creates global fiduciary pensions structure

    2009-04-27T15:00:00Z

    [16:00 CEST 27-04] GLOBAL - Henkel, the Düsseldorf-based personal and consumer goods multinational, has completed what is thought to be the first global restructuring of pension schemes as a notional pooling structure and appointed three firms to manage its plans globally as custodian, fiduciary and risk manager.

  • Finnish pensions are helping recovery - Katainen
    News

    Finnish pensions are helping recovery - Katainen

    2009-04-27T14:45:00Z

    [15:45 CEST 27-04] FINLAND – The Finnish finance minister, Jyrki Katainen, has local praised pension funds for their investment in corporate loans as doing so is expected to contribute to the country’s economic recovery.

  • Talking Point: Larger reserves needed?
    News

    Talking Point: Larger reserves needed?

    2009-04-24T15:45:00Z

    The Dutch pensions regulator, De Nerderlandsche Bank, has suggested local pension funds may in future need to hold larger surplus reserves to ensure their liablities can be met. But is this an issue all pension funds should now be considering?

  • Danes to withdraw €3.3bn from pensions 'for luxuries'
    News

    Danes to withdraw €3.3bn from pensions 'for luxuries'

    2009-04-24T15:35:00Z

    [16:35 CEST 24-04] ATP, the manager of the Danish state-owned SP pension scheme, says approximately DKK25bn (€3.35bn) could be withdrawn from the scheme to be spent on luxuries by the Danish population when the government allows access to the assets later this year.

  • Finnish self-employed are undersaving by a third
    News

    Finnish self-employed are undersaving by a third

    2009-04-24T15:30:00Z

    [16:30 CEST 24-04] FINLAND – A study suggests Finnish self-employed workers are not paying enough into their pension funds as the levels of self-employed persons pensions insurance (YEL) policies are about a third lower than actual annual income.

  • Tesco fund gets £500m property as deficit exceeds £1bn
    News

    Tesco fund gets £500m property as deficit exceeds £1bn

    2009-04-24T15:15:00Z

    [16:15 CEST 24-04] UK – Tesco has revealed its pension deficit increased to £1.1bn (€1.2bn) by the end of February 2009, so the firm has pledged £500m of property to the scheme as contingent assets in a bid to improve its financial security.

  • DNB says larger pension reserves needed
    News

    DNB says larger pension reserves needed

    2009-04-24T15:00:00Z

    [16:00 CEST 24-04] NETHERLANDS – Dutch pension funds may need to set aside more of their returns and hold larger financial buffers to protect against potential future setbacks, officials at the pension regulator,De Nederlandsche Bank, have suggested.

  • Interest rate hedge doubles PME’s loss
    News

    Interest rate hedge doubles PME’s loss

    2009-04-24T14:00:00Z

    [15:00 CEST 24-04] NETHERLANDS – PME, the industry-wide pension fund for Dutch metalworkers electricians, saw its assets under management fall by 1.4% in the first three months of this year as an earlier move to protect the fund against falling interest rates instead damaged its returns.

  • Irish gov't urged to extend Pension Board powers
    News

    Irish gov't urged to extend Pension Board powers

    2009-04-24T13:30:00Z

    [14:30 CEST 24-04] IRELAND – The Pensions Board should have similar powers to the UK Pensions Regulator allowing it to force solvent companies to address pension deficits before the firm is sold, the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) has claimed.

  • Bulk of Swiss schemes now underfunded
    News

    Bulk of Swiss schemes now underfunded

    2009-04-24T13:00:00Z

    [14:00 CEST 24-04] SWITZERLAND – The number of underfunded Swiss Pensionskassen has increased considerably in the first quarter with 74,3% now being below the full funding level.

  • Positive Q1 boosts Varma value
    News

    Positive Q1 boosts Varma value

    2009-04-24T12:30:00Z

    [13:30 CESt 24-04] FINLAND – Varma Mutual Pension Insurance company has reported a positive first quarter performance of 0.3%, although its rival Eläke-Fennia produced a slightly poorer result of -0.2%.