Asset Allocation – Page 221
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Features
Slow task of rebuilding
Like the adverts for Carlsberg beer, the Danes believe that they probably have the best system in Europe when it comes to pensions coverage. Granted the Dutch will have more in terms of funded assets per head, but Denmark’s second pillar occupational membership at an estimated 95% of the workforce ...
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Features
US to dictate Europe's 2004
Two developments in the US hold the key to how the Euro-zone equities market is likely to perform in 2004. One is the recovery of the US economy and the other is depreciation of the US dollar. The questions the European markets are asking are – will the fall in ...
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Features
Getting the pensions message across
Good communication is essential in the pension fund business, according to a panel of leading figures in the European pensions industry. Panellists at the third annual IPE Awards in Amsterdam agreed that communication with plan members was an important part of the job of a pension fund manager. And with ...
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Features
Why ALM still has a role
In a market environment where the funding ratios of pension funds have suffered severely, asset liability management (ALM) is still a very helpful tool in understanding the various ways a pension fund might restructure its financial position and to repair its balance sheet. ALM is still particularly helpful and useful ...
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Features
TAA alpha there for the taking
Fixed asset weightings in a portfolio are not optimal when risk premiums and volatility vary over time. This renders tactical asset allocation (TAA) a useful supplement to strategic asset allocation. The institutional investor considering the investment process for TAA should consider the spillover effects to other parts of the investment ...
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Features
'Pension funds better investors than asset managers'
European pension funds should manage the core of their business internally, and outsource only the specialist areas of asset management to external managers. This is because pension funds understand their liabilities better than anyone else. Broadly, this was the conclusion of six managers in the pension industry when they debated ...
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Features
Benchmarking - back to basics
The European pensions industry faces major challenges, some of which will likely lead to significant, if not dramatic, changes. At the broadest level there is growing awareness of the issues raised by long-term demographic trends, especially in those countries where reliance continues to be primarily on the state for retirement ...
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Features
IMF critical of Belgacom move
The Belgian government’s takeover of the Belgacom pension fund has been criticised by the International Monetary Fund as an “ad hoc” measure which masks the country’s true fiscal position. “The current framework that relies on maintaining balanced budgets has served as a valuable policy communication tool,” the organisation said in ...
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Features
Equities to benefit from recovery
Short-term volatility will always feature in equity markets and should be expected. But overall, we believe that equity markets will maintain their positive trend in the months ahead because of the strength of improvement in economic and profits data around the globe. Not only has the US economy reported a ...
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Features
Holy grail - or Pandora's box
Has tactical asset allocation (TAA) disappeared? TAA – taking advantage of short-term anomalies in the relative values of assets – has been significantly eroded in pension fund investment structures. Although it is still present within portfolios at a very modest level. In past times UK pension funds funds chose the ...
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Features
Job market fugures confirm story
Our big picture for the global economy remains one of higher growth, with the US leading the global upturn. The US economy is changing for the better. Last quarter it grew at its highest pace since early 1984, with both capital spending and consumer spending posting big advances. The improvement ...
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Features
Why pressure is mounting on DB plans in UK
The last few years have seen troubled times for all involved with the management of defined benefit (DB) pension plans within the UK, with large numbers of employers either closing their DB plans to new entrants or shutting down their plans for future accrual altogether. Based on the National Association ...
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Features
Waving the flag for funding
The idea for a pension fund for members of the European Parliament began on a paper tablecloth in an Athens restaurant. It was sketched by Richard Balfe and a fellow member of the European Parliament (MEP) Anthony Simpson. They felt that MEPs fared worse than their national parliamentary counterparts in ...
