All IPE articles in August 2009 (Online) – Page 2
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NewsWednesday people roundup
[13:30 CEST 26-08] GLOBAL – Barclays UK Pension Fund, Newcape Capital Group, Northern Trust. Aviva Investors, Newton Investment Management, LVAM, Mercer, LaSalle IM, SEB, WL Ross & Co
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NewsCumbrian pensions funding drops to 56%
[16:45 CEST 25-08] UK – The Cumbria County Council pension fund had a 56% funding level at the end of March 2009, according to figures from the council's statement of accounts.
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NewsAP2 seeks global credit managers
[16:35 CEST 25-08] SWEDEN – Andra AP-fonden (AP2), the Second Swedish National Pension Fund, is seeking external global credit bond managers for mandates valued at up to $600m (€418m).
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NewsEquities bring AP4 a strong first-half return
[16:30 CEST 25-08] SWEDEN – Fjärde AP-fonden (AP4) the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund, reported a gross first-half return of 7.9% as its 60% allocation to equities benefited from the recent stock market improvements.
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NewsPensionskasse begets pensionskasse
[15:20 CEST 25-08] SWITZERLAND – The Swiss multi-employer pensionskasse Publica has been granted the right to set up a pension fund for its own staff.
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NewsConsultant calls for longer Belgian recovery time
BELGIUM – A Belgian pensions consultant has warned local pension plans need more time to meet funding recovery plans, as the industry-standard short time frames are placing undue pressure on executives and company sponsors to meet full funding targets.
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NewsConsultants see IAS19 'sticking plaster' as important first step
[15:30 CEST 25-08] GLOBAL - Pensions and investments consultants have expressed general support towards a what is described as a "sticking plaster" move by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), allowing companies to discount defined benefit post-retirement obligations against a government bond rate where they cannot comply with existing rules.
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NewsDutch pension fund begins quest for bonds
[16:40 CEST 24-08] IPE-QUEST – A Netherlands-based corporate pension fund is looking to hire a suitable eurozone corporate bond manager to look after a €35m ($50m) investment, and is conducting the search using IPE-Quest.
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NewsFRR enjoys recovery ahead of allocation shift
[16:30 CEST 24-08] FRANCE – Fonds de Reserves pour les Retraites (FRR), the French national pension fund, managed to claw back some of the losses it suffered on investments last year, ahead of changes to its strategic asset allocation.
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NewsAP2 generates 6.4% gain
[16:10 CEST 24-08] SWEDEN – Andra AP-fonden (AP2), the Second Swedish National Pension Fund, has managed to undo some of the losses from last year as active in-house management of certain investments helped generated a first half return of 6.4% on its portfolio.
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NewsSwisscanto sees easing of funding crisis
[15:50 CEST 24-08] SWITZERLAND – The average funding level of Swiss pension funds has recovered slightly since the beginning of this year to 93.4%, according to Swisscanto calculations.
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NewsShropshire awards bond mandate to boutique
[15:15 CEST 24-08] UK – Shropshire County Council has awarded a new global bonds mandate for its £820m (€944.5m) pension fund to US boutique firm Strategic Fixed Income.
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NewsHoreca pension losses spark passive move
[15:00 CEST 24-08 NETHERLANDS - The €2.5bn pension fund for the hotel and catering sector (PH&C) has changed its asset management approach from active to mainly passive.
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NewsAPG names Munsters' successor
[11:55 CEST 14-08] NETHERLANDS – APG has named Angelien Kemna as its new CIO according to a statement issued this morning by organisation, which manages the assets of the €180bn ABP pension fund.
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NewsAlecta posts 2.2% H1 return
[17:15 CEST 21-08] SWEDEN – Alecta has revealed the value of its investments increased by SEK6.4bn (€630m) in the first half of 2009, following an overall return of 2.2%.
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NewsIlmarinen investments jump €2bn on 6.6% return
[17:10 CEST 21-08] FINLAND – Ilmarinen Mutual Insurance Company has reported an increase in its investment assets of €2bn in the first half of 2009, as it revealed its "best ever quarter" in terms of investment performance.
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NewsUK self-certified schemes to require 7.6% contribution
[17:00 CEST 21-08] UK – Initial draft regulations outlining the requirements under which employers will be able to "self-certify" that their existing pension scheme meets the criteria for auto-enrolment, are likely to require a minimum contribution threshold of 7.6% of qualifying earnings, IPE has learned.
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NewsPricing pressures fail to halt interest in full buyouts
[16:55 CEST 21-08] UK – Pensions consultancy Lane, Clark & Peacock has seen an increase in the number of quotation requests for full pensions buyouts, despite warnings on the horizon of possible bulk annuity price increases.
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NewsAnadolu considers pioneering pensions move
TURKEY - Anadolu Hayat Emeklilik, the second-largest pension insurance firm in Turkey in terms of assets under management, could pioneer diversification of the country's pension fund range by introducing a new interest-free investment vehicle which follows the principles of 'Sukuk', IPE has learned.
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NewsOptimism improves but Europe holds back
[15:45 CEST 21-08] GLOBAL – Fund manager optimism towards the global economies and investment markets has substantially improved to match recent market activity. But European fund managers are still reticent about moving assets back into equities, suggests Merrill Lynch’s latest survey of fund managers.
