Asset Allocation – Page 131
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Special Report
Risk sharing and investment strategy
In this installment of our series of discussion papers, Jean Frijns concludes that a far-reaching reform of collective DC will lead to a more effective investment strategy by making it possible to harmonise risk frameworks and goals
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Features
The packaged approach to diversification
Matthew Craig assesses diversified growth funds, absolute return funds that allocate to a range of asset classes alongside fixed income and equities
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Special Report
Managing pension and benefit risk
Gabriele Buchs and Nigel Bateman outline Deutsche’s Bank journey towards a co-ordinated approach to pension risk
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Special ReportBuy or build?
Some European funds have traditionally managed assets in-house for cost-effective long-term performance. Gail Moss assesses the do-it-yourself approach
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Features
Unsettling times
Yield curve/duration At the very heart of the financial system, money markets remain almost paralysed and it is here that the recovery must start. Neither the global financial market nor the real economy can function without them. Without access to short-term funding, the banks are forced to sell assets as ...
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Features
Polish reforms take shape
Polish pension reforms began in 1999, but the presentation of new legislation relating to bridging pensions, annuities and the programmed withdrawal of funds suggests the reforms of the second pensions pillar could be completed just as the first pensions are paid next year. Ten years ago, Poland introduced a new ...
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Special ReportMind the gap
Public sector pension institutions play an important, if often controversial, role in the Swiss pensions arena, argues Graziano Lusenti
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FeaturesLänsförsäkringar’s fruit leaves sour note
Many institutional investors shun hedge funds as opaque in process and therefore difficult to comprehend. Such investors can always fall back on the Warren Buffett adage that if you do not understand something, you should not invest in it. Far rarer are those institutions that have tasted the fruits of ...
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FeaturesThe improving image of EMD
The increasing importance of emerging market debt as an asset class reflects the seismic shift we are witnessing as power and relative wealth moves from the developed markets to the developing, argues Joseph Mariathasan
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Features
The Fannie and Freddie effect
The apparent end of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac uncertainty, following the de-facto government takeover in September, sent shares in the two quasi-governmental mortgage lenders tumbling, further decimating the considerable holdings of US pension funds in the mortgage giants. This new ‘conservatorship’ raises immediate questions about the fate of ...
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Features
INVESTMENT DIRECTOR’s DIARY
Revolution at Wasserdicht Pension Funds. The whole investment team is debating the targeting of third-party assets. From Brussels to Vienna and Frankfurt to London, our sharpest minds are congregating in Amsterdam to discuss how we would do this. Jean from Bruxelles began proceedings: “We should ask smaller pension funds to ...
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Features
INVESTMENT DIRECTOR’s DIARY
We have been very busy. Managers have been letting us know of our exposures to financials and we have even been discussing the merits of an ex-financials benchmark. The question is where is the bottom to all this mess? Word of advice: do not rely totally on your black-box quant ...
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Features
Reforms on test from crisis
The global financial crisis has sparked a review of Finnish pension reforms. Reeta Paakkinen reports
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FeaturesFinnish firms keep it cool
Finland’s pension funds remain unfazed by recent market developments although some are reassessing their asset allocation, finds Reeta Paakkinen
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Features
The crunch continues
Yield curve/duration The credit crunch is now manifesting itself in the form of the massive writedowns by scores of financial institutions. The focus has moved from sub-prime to collateralised debt obligations of asset backed securities (CDOs of ABSs) to asset backed commercial paper (ABCP) as the disease spreads to the ...
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FeaturesThe shape of things to come
Mn Services is increasing the allocations of emerging market assets in its portfolios. Joseph Mariathasan finds out why
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Special Report
Where pension funds can and can’t excel: Watson Wyatt’s view
While certain aspects of governance may need to be enhanced when using external managers, this should not necessarily deter pension funds from continuing to use them, rather than build an in-house team, according to Watson Wyatt. The pension consultants say that research conducted by Roger Urwin, global head of investment ...
