Asset Allocation – Page 162
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Features
Alternatives making a little headway
In Italy, investment rules for each pension fund differ according to what type of legal regime it falls into. The most recent funds, formed under the 1993 pensions law, cannot in general invest in alternatives – they can only do so via harmonised mutual funds linked to traditional asset classes. ...
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Features
Marè’s advice: hold your course
Italy is on the brink of dramatic changes to its pension fund market. Either the Maroni reform goes on and pension funds grow strongly, or the industry will face a new paralysis that will be detrimental to future retirees. A third way, which is going back to a very generous ...
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Features
Address the fundamentals
If you ask the question why invest in emerging market equities, the answer is pretty straightforward: emerging market economies are going to be a much more significant part of the global economy in the future and growth rates are generally higher than developed countries. Jim O’Neil at Goldman Sachs estimates ...
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Features
ABP eyes non-listed sector amid short-termism
Europe’s largest pension fund, the Dutch civil service giant ABP, is planning to shift the accent of its investments to non-listed companies and real estate, says chief investment officer Roderick Munsters. The main reasons are the increasing short-term thinking within the listed sector, and the growing pressure of corporate governance ...
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Features
A noise about silence
The much delayed reform of the pension system is finally due to be implemented at the beginning of 2008. Not a moment too soon. While the date has slipped continuously over the years the urgency for reform grows in sympathy, as the fortunes of the new generation of pension funds ...
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Features
Quenching the thirst
For many years Cyprus was a rather inaccessible economy. Artificially high interest rates and restrictions on the movement of capital did not inspire much thought or creativity, to put it mildly. And as the island’s abundant sunshine contrasted starkly with its reputation for shady dealings, money laundering being the primary ...
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Features
Where size matters
The EU pensions directive is focusing the minds of Belgian pension funds. But it is not the implementation of the directive that is causing the major concern but a series of proposed changes that accompany it. The directive should have been introduced last September but legislation transposing its provisions into ...
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Features
No longer a mirage?
It is safe to say that the single European market for asset managers is moving ever closer due to developments in the last year. A real single market in asset management is something for which the Investment Management Association’s (IMA) has been actively calling for more than three years. As ...
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Features
Leading soundbites
Q1Are we moving out of a low interest rate environment? If so, do investors go from here? Q2In your view why are mega mergers such as Citigroup/Legg Mason and Merrill Lynch/BlackRock, happening and are there more to come? Q3The involvement of investment banks in pensions investment has been ...
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Features
Why scheme members are key
Peter Scales is retiring as chief executive of the £3.5bn (€5bn) London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) and will leave the post at the end of the year. George Coats asks the questions What was your first full-time job – do you remember what you were paid at the time? ...
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Features
UK pension industry split on national scheme
The UK’s pension industry appears split over the government’s proposed national pensions savings schemes. Investment providers have welcomed the idea but consulting firms have warned of higher costs and unintended consequences. The government White Paper, following up on the Pensions Commission proposals, said it would introduce a new low cost ...
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Features
Global FX trading surges
Pension fund and asset manager activity in the global foreign exchange market grew 48% last year, according to consulting firm Greenwich Associates. “Average foreign exchange trading volumes among fund managers and pension funds increased almost 48% from 2004 to 2005,” the firm pointed out. “As a result of this growth, ...
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Features
Irresistible rise of IMM funds
Over the last 10 years, investment in European triple-A rated institutional money market funds has been nothing short of remarkable. Since their inception, funds under management have grown to a figure of around $243bn (€191bn) as at 31st December 2005* – making it one of the fastest growing investment products ...
