Asset Allocation – Page 191
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Features
Generous to a fault
Belgium’s 150 MPs retire on one of the most generous pensions of any parliamentarians in Europe - some 75% of final salary - which compares with around two-thirds of final salary in most other cases. But in terms of the length of time it takes to accumulate a full pension, ...
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A place for equities
IPE asked three pension funds in three countries – the Slovakia, Denmark and Germany – the same question: ‘Equities are still the only asset class that can provide the returns that pension funds need to reduce their deficits – or are they?’ Here are their answers Gabriel Hinzeller is ...
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Looking at the dynamics
While the message is gradually getting through that tactical asset allocation (TAA) has evolved and improved since the early 1990s, consultants say this new investment method has yet to prove itself in the long term. Andrew Kirton, UK investment consulting practice leader at Mercer says TAA is back on the ...
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On fait des progrès
New energy, new sophistication and, not least, new money. France is gradually shedding its image as a land of relatively limited opportunity for institutional asset managers. This gathered pace last year with the issue of mandates worth E16bn by the Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR), the first of ...
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Custody market on the move
If the past few months are anything to go by, the French securities services market should prove to be one to watch this year. The large domestic players and overseas banks are positioning themselves to take advantage of what they regard as a market of significant potential growth. In December ...
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Heading for a crowded retirement
What was your first full-time job – and do you remember what you were paid at the time? My first job, in 1966, after I graduated in law from the University of Copenhagen and completed my military service was in the education ministry working on higher education planning. It was ...
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Extending the golden circle
The pension assets of US multinational Hewlett Packard (HP) – some $5.9bn (e4.6bn) in total (ex-US) at the end of last year – are treated with special care. The backdrop, as can be found elsewhere, is a policy of taking greater control from the centre. The ‘Golden Circle’, the inner ...
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Finland faces tough choices
The Finnish government has been urged to usher in more politically difficult pension reform measures to make its finances sustainable. The “political arithmetic” suggests there may be dangers in waiting too long, a new report warns. It comes as it appears that the initial response to a new flexible retirement ...
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Taking centre stage in Europe
With the new year, the rewriting of the rules governing the single currency takes centre stage in the pension debate, with a number of member states clamouring that they should be given more time to get their public pension systems in order. Also, the European Parliamentary Pension Forum (EPPF), initially ...
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Hedge funds by another name
According to Mercer’s study of UK pension fund asset allocation, tactical asset allocation (TAA) is also anticipated to become more popular, with the proportion of schemes using TAA expected to rise from 3% in 2004 to as much as 10% this year. David Tucker, of the UK arm of Australian ...
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Not all on the same hymn sheet
“Historically, pension funds gave all their assets to one manager. Then they realised that one manager could not outperform over every asset class. So they turned to specialists, and ended up with several asset managers, 10 or 12 reports, and a very complex structure. Multi-manager (MM) is the solution. It ...
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Infrastructure's class act
For pension funds the attraction of investing in infrastructure projects – roads bridges and airports – is that they can provide stable long-term returns and a good match for long-dated liabilities. However the drawback is that few pension funds have the expertise to assess the risk and returns of individual ...
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Why absolute returns rule
In a bear market, investment managers pursuing relative returns strategies can offer their clients both good news and bad. The bad news is that they have lost money. The good news is that they have not lost as much money as everyone else. Managers implementing absolute return strategies, however, can ...
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Trouble at the top
Last December Ireland’s asset management industry was rocked by the sixth defection from Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) to Autralian financial services group Perpetual Trustees. BIAM was still reeling from the initial shock of the first four departures in October; now concerns regarding the bank’s ability to maintain its ...
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Tying the pieces together
Is asset allocation objective? Why are rational, intelligent individuals able to produce two radically different asset allocations both seeking to fulfil a 20-year objective? The answer lies in the conflicts of interest that are embedded in the institutional fund management industry. The fundamental point is that what the risk stakeholders ...
