Asset Allocation – Page 245
-
Features
Custody award surprises competitors
One appointment by the NTMA that caused some surprise in the market was that of ABN Amro Mellon to the position of fund custodian. Observers had predicted that one of the larger custody players in Europe in terms of assets under custody might pick up the brief. Certainly with IR£8bn ...
-
Features
Why the 'feel bad' sentiment
The current market circumstances give rise to some frustration for market commentators and participants alike. It is one of those periods during which it has become abundantly clear that the development of equity prices and interest rates is not one related to a certain set of factors but rather reflects ...
-
Features
Drive to improve benefits
PSA Peugeot Citröen, France’s leading car manufacturer, is introducing an Article 83 defined contribution pension plan this month in a move designed to raise the retirement benefits of its employees. The plan will cover all employees of the PSA group’s French automobile, logistics and transportation businesses whose earnings are above ...
-
Features
Choosing from the world's best
Once the decision was taken that the National Treasury Management Agency would look after the overall management of the National Pensions Reserve Fund, the need was to put together a specialist in-house team for the job. John Corrigan of the NTMA (the former director of funding and debt management) was ...
-
Features
Waiting for better plans to emerge
The current move by some of the largest French companies to introduce Article 83 defined contribution plans for their employees suggests that they are not prepared to wait for a new pensions law and the products it will bring. PSA Peugeot Citröen is only the latest of a number of ...
-
Features
A fund is born
When Irish finance minister Charlie McCreevy announced on 23 July 1999 that the Irish government had approved a new strategy to maintain the exchequer’s ability to finance future pension provision in Ireland through the creation of a giant reserve fund, the impact of his statement was by no means confined ...
-
Features
Fund gets budgetary green light from EU
For the Irish government, the introduction of such a significant reserve fund into the country’s balance sheet posed not only the question of domestic support, but also that of adherence to the EU Growth and Stability Pact – the 1997 requirement that all member states bring their budgets into balance ...
-
Features
Manager selection: case studies
Daiwa SB Investments e125m Japanese equities mandate Where did you originally learn about the National Pensions Reserve Fund mandate? Our company paid particularly close attention to the changes in Irish government legislation. In addition to following legislation proceedings, we received official notification of the tender process through the web-based IPE-Quest ...
-
Features
New challenges for second pillar in Greece
Policy makers involved within the social security and benefits context in Greece are faced with major new challenges since the beginning of 2002. For a number of years, discussions on the reform of the domestic social protection system was a hot issue on the political agenda, leading to strong reactions ...
-
Features
How the old order is changing
Consider these two quotes: “After five years of underperformance the UK’s ‘big five’ fund managers are losing pension business to their specialist rivals”, and “Merrill Lynch, Schroders, and Gartmore are among a group of the world’s best-known fund managers who suffered a dramatic fall in their UK pensions business last ...
-
Features
Commission of seven prudent persons
For his vision of the state pension fund to become reality, it was essential for Irish finance minister Charlie McCreevy to find the right structure to implement and manage such an important pool of assets. The arrangements for the governance and management of the fund were modelled on the successful ...
-
Features
The commissioners
Donal Geaney is chairman and chief executive of drug delivery and biopharmaceutical firm, Elan Corporation, Ireland’s largest public company. Geaney joined Elan in 1987 as executive vice president, corporate planning before being elected to the board of directors in 1992 and later assuming the positions of president and chief operating ...
-
Features
A daunting experience: NTMA’s investment management
That the NTMA was in clear control of the type of managers it wanted for the fund and the type of contract it was seeking to enter into was clear from the off in this huge RFP. One pertinent example came in the second stage of the appraisal, when the ...
-
Features
Hybrids offer extra dimension
Slumping investment returns in the major stock markets, an increase in longevity and the introduction of new accounting standards, among other factors, have left many pension funds in deficit. Conversely, the downturn in the global economy has forced organisations to be more cost-aware. As a result, many companies are currently ...
