Asset Allocation – Page 178
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Features
An awkward customer
In a world of increasing demand for investment solutions based around liability driven benchmarks, how do global bond portfolios fit in? Historically, as Paul Abberley, head of fixed income at ABN AMRO Asset Management points out, “global bonds have always been problematic as an asset class in an optimisation framework. ...
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Features
The great bond shortage?
IPE asked three pension funds in three countries – the Netherlands, the UK and Switzerland: ‘Does the scarcity of high-quality long-term government bonds highlighted by the OECD, pose a problem?’ Here are their answers: Peter Scales, chief executive of the London Pensions Fund Authority, which has AUM of £3.2bn ...
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Features
Rules trigger CTA boom
To the delight of Germany’s asset management industry, the much-anticipated boom in corporate pensions finally happened last year. And as 2006 begins, it shows no signs of slowing. Interestingly, the type of boom is not what one would normally expect. While corporate pensions have spread dramatically since historic pension reforms ...
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Features
Closing days of DB schemes
Spiralling costs, regulatory obligations and longevity are among the critical factors putting final salary pension schemes on the proverbial chopping block. Recently, the £2.4bn (€3.5bn) ScottishPower pension fund joined the ranks of Rentokil, Philip Green’s Arcadia retail group and the Co-operative Group, after proposing to shut the doors of its ...
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Features
Market conduct under microscope
Under the renewed Dutch pension law, one of the new tasks of the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) will be the supervision of the quality of information pension funds provide their members and pensioners with a second supervisor for the funds. Within the pensions industry this announcement caused ...
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Features
Diving much deeper
Pooling has occupied increasing column inches of the trade press over the past year, as Irish and Luxembourg service providers have sought to promote their respective solutions. Pooling occurs when the assets of one or more pension schemes are aggregated in an underlying pool in order to realise economies of ...
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Features
Straatman and profits of doom
It’s not every day that someone moves from working for the Dutch civil service pension fund to teaming up with a flamboyant UK pizza-and-pubs magnate. But that’s just what Jan Straatman is about to do. His decision to leave his berth at ABP Investments, where he was chief investment officer ...
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Features
Mind the gap: managing your duration
Like any investment approach, liability-driven strategies need to be used within a mix of tactics and instruments. Liabilities need to be taken into account, but not at the expense of performance. Experience has shown that good managers can still add to performance whilst managing liability, if placed in the right ...
