Asset Allocation – Page 242
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Features
Recognition as market leader highlights drive for
What the judges said: ”Sophisticated and well defined technically.” The judges noted that AP3 had made a clear statement of the problem, which they said was “very difficult to solve”. AP3, however, according to the judges, had come up with “innovative concepts” and an “honesty” in recognising the limitations of ...
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The end of pension schemes?
The Irish regulatory authority, the Pensions Board, has begun to examine submissions from providers of Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs). PRSAs are a new type of investment vehicle, introduced under the 2002 Finance Act. They are intended to be a cheap, flexible and portable alternative for people who would not ...
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Europe is going specialist
With global financial markets continuing their struggle, many European pension funds are taking a closer look at their portfolios, and an increasing number are switching their assets into specialist mandates. A recent study by Mercer Human Resource Consulting revealed a 64% increase in specialist mandates in Europe over the last ...
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External recognition of quality of revamped plan
The Dublin-based Electricity Supply Board Pension Scheme (ESB) ESB is delighted to have won an IPE Award for the second consecutive year. Last year it was for investment strategy but this year the ESB has picked up the prestigious country leader award for fund structure. “In a defined contribution (DC) ...
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PBU works out to 'get fit'
The Pensionskassen for Børne- og Ungdomspædagoger (PBU) scheme has more than 72,000 members with premium benefits of DKK1.3bn (e175m) a year. Before the end of 2000, PBU had been wholly administered by Sampension. At that time, PBU had been imbued with a defensive attitude, costs that were deemed far too ...
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Features
Thoroughly 'modern' funds reaps rewards for the second time
What the judges said: “They are a serious player and are developing their strategy. In particular they have developed their reporting system in co-operation with an outside specialist and it is very modern by Finnish standards, for example providing for analysis of performance attribution. Their risk management system is also ...
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Signal for other funds to take same steps
The Basel-based Novartis Pension Fund, the pension scheme of pharmaceuticals and health-care group Novartis, believes it was the novel idea to ‘monetise’ its real estate portfolios that led the IPE Awards judges to pick it as country group investment strategy winner for Switzerland. One judge commended it on the grounds ...
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Global players making inroads
When the Second Swedish National Pension Fund (AP2) appointed State Street to provide global investment services for its $14bn of assets under management in June this year, the move highlighted a disturbing trend for the Nordic region’s domestic global custodians. Are the region’s larger pension funds players and insurance companies ...
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TotalFinaElf harmonises plans
TotalFinaElf employs what it calls a harmonised package of supplementary pensions and savings plans. The group has shown a willingness to put in place new common personnel administration procedures within group companies designed to facilitate mobility. The approach fits in with the new legal framework for long and short-term savings ...
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Industriens trims strategy with hedges
Industriens Pensions’ invested portfolio, which is expected to grow significantly over the next few years as a result of increasing contribution payments, consists of a broad range of asset types, of which shares – according to the investment framework drawn up by the board – may constitute between 25 and ...
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Managing the investment portfolio
Senior managers at some of Europe’s top pension funds agree on one thing: that they are investing for the long term, though they differ on how to achieve their aims in terms of how they manage their funds, allocate assets and monitor their absolute returns. The executives were speaking at ...
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Features
Support for launch of new wide-ranging pension pac
The judges said that the establishment of the TotalFinaElf fund must have been an achievement in itself and praised its use of “good tools and periodicity in the communication process”. The staff at TotalFinaElf’s new retirement savings and pension fund department were naturally delighted to learn they had won the ...
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Features
Taking the luck out of pooling
The major employee benefits networks are reporting their busiest periods for new business for some time. The existing total market of around 2,200 pools is likely to expand by 8% this year and there is more in the pipeline. This change in fortunes is not completely accidental. Behind the numbers ...
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Features
MetallRente's well-forged plan
MetallRente, the joint venture between the metal employers’ association (Gesamtmetall) and the metalworkers’ union (IG Metall) has been heralded as one of the most innovative occupational pension funds to come out of the Riester pension reforms. At the beginning of September the organisation had more than 500 companies under contract ...
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Features
Norway's place for money
The institutional market in Norway is a notoriously difficult market for asset managers to enter. There are three broad reasons for this. The first is that the is market controlled by a handful of large players. The second is that the pension fund business is too fragmented to be lucrative ...
