Asset Allocation – Page 327
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Features
CCIM favours equities
In the past months, moderate world economic growth and a low inflation and interest rate environment have been propitious for an asset allocation favouring equities over bonds and cash. Although the times of monetary expansion are over and interest rates are trending higher, the rise is modest and will remain ...
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Norway's parties clash on oil fund
The Norwegian election result could lead to a smaller portion of the country’s Petroleum Fund being invested in equity markets worldwide.The failure of Norway’s Labour party to achieve an overall majority has opened the way for several weeks of horse trading as parties try to form a workable coalition government. ...
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Comparing plan values
Is it possible to compare different employers’ pension plans? Buck Consultants in Geneva certainly thinks so and has devised for the Swiss market a method of calculating a ‘technical value’ for each employer’s plan. The exercise was based on a database consisting mainly of internation-al companies operating in Switzerland.We have ...
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Italy: the future is DC
Italy’s first law regulating private pension plans was Law Decree 124/1993, issued on 21 April 1993. The most significant elements are that: only DC plans are allowed for employees (with only the self-employed being able to choose DB); strict limits are placed on the amount of tax-deductible contributions that can ...
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Not as easy as it sounds
For any multinational considering moving to DC in Europe, it is important to understand the environment in each country, as it is most unlikely that sophisticated US 401K-type DC plans will be possible. The European DC market is still developing, in terms of concept, employee acceptance and the tax regime. ...
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UK support for EU pension reform
The UK pensions minister, John Denham, has strongly backed the Monti green paper, fuelling speculation that pensions reform could become a major theme of the UK’s forthcoming EU presidency.Warmly welcoming the green paper, Denham said: The commission’s analysis of the pensions problem is very much in line with the government’s ...
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UK: on growth track
There is a discernible trend toward DC in the UK, although this may have been exaggerated. The following reasons for this were given by respondents, representing over 40% of UK occupational pensions by value, to the survey conducted by InterSec: increased job mobility; desire for transferability of savings; demand from ...
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Inside track
Outsource your investment management is my cry!Let’s start off with something where protagonists fall clearly into one camp or another and for a multinational, in particular, it’s a key issue: How to manage the in-vestments?”I support the view that investment management should be outsourced to the fund management industry (and ...
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Swiss make the switch
Switzerland is a large and mature pension market in the sense that Swiss employers have typically provided a substantial pension package to employees (in addition to basic social security coverage.) The special factor about the Swiss implementation of the three-pillar system is that the second pillar is compulsory. This comes ...
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Polish reform
The mandatory pensions reform in Poland has completed its legislative passage. President Aleksander Kwasniewski gave his assent to the bill last month. Funds are on course to begin operation on 1 January1999.
