All articles by Carolyn Bandel – Page 3

  • ABP bleak on recovery prospects
    News

    ABP bleak on recovery prospects

    2009-01-29T15:50:00Z

    [16:50 CET 29-01] NETHERLANDS – ABP, the largest Dutch pension fund which today revealed its assets had dropped by €44bn in 2008 to €173bn, has warned signs of a structural recovery on the equity markets are scarce.

  • Funds blame bulk of decline on interest rates
    News

    Funds blame bulk of decline on interest rates

    2009-01-29T15:40:00Z

    [16:40 CET 29-01] NETHERLANDS – Major pension funds have argued up to two-thirds of the decline in their cover ratios, which now hover between 85% and 100%, was because of the steep drop in interest rates.

  • €72bn evaporated from Dutch big four in 2008
    News

    €72bn evaporated from Dutch big four in 2008

    2009-01-29T14:45:00Z

    [15:45 CET 29-01] NETHERLANDS – The four largest pension funds in the Netherlands, ABP, PFZW, PMT and PME, have seen their assets drop by €71.6bn as a results of the credit crunch.

  • Fortis to 'renegotiate' sale
    News

    Fortis to 'renegotiate' sale

    2009-01-28T15:40:00Z

    [16:40 CET 28-01] BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS – Belgian Dutch bancassurer Fortis has reopened its talks with the Belgian government and French baking group BNP Paribas over the sale of its assets, on the recommendation of a court-appointed panel of experts.

  • Pension funds set to receive €500m in Dutch tax rebates
    News

    Pension funds set to receive €500m in Dutch tax rebates

    2009-01-28T15:20:00Z

    [16:20 CET 28-01] NETHERLANDS/UK – The Dutch tax office will have to refund up €500m to pension funds after a legal challenge by the UK’s £9.24bn (€10.3bn) Strathclyde pension fund.

  • Madoff dangers were no news to investors – Edhec
    News

    Madoff dangers were no news to investors – Edhec

    2009-01-28T14:50:00Z

    [15:50 CET 28-01] GLOBAL – Hedge fund investors were dissatisfied with issues of transparency on liquidity and operational risk exposure even before Bernard Madoff’s ponzi scheme scandal came to light, suggests research from French business school Edhec.

  • Wednesday people roundup
    News

    Wednesday people roundup

    2009-01-28T14:00:00Z

    [15:00 CET 28-01] GLOBAL – Dexia, Blackrock, NTGI, Calpers, Cardano, KPMG, Russell Investments, Ruffer, Hermes, Pioneer Investments, Law Debenture.

  • PGGM wins its first pension fund mandate
    News

    PGGM wins its first pension fund mandate

    2009-01-28T13:22:00Z

    [14:22 CET 28-01] NETHERLANDS – PGGM, the asset management arm of giant Dutch pension fund PFZW, has today revealed it has taken over the asset management and pension operation of the €20m Aena pension fund.

  • Hermes pushes for pay vote at Siemens and Porsche
    News

    Hermes pushes for pay vote at Siemens and Porsche

    2009-01-27T14:45:00Z

    [15:45 CET 27-01] UK/GERMANY – Hermes, the fund manager owned by the £39.7bn (€44bn) BT Pension Scheme, is planning to push for a say on supervisory boards' remuneration during the shareholders meetings at Siemens and Porsche.

  • Dutch KPN pledges €120m for pensions
    News

    Dutch KPN pledges €120m for pensions

    2009-01-27T14:30:00Z

    [15:30 CET 27-01] NETHERLANDS – The Dutch telecoms giant KPN today said the cover ratio of its €430m pension fund dropped to 94% at the end of last year, requiring the corporation to inject around €120m into its fund over the course of this year.

  • Danish investors to award $300m debt mandate
    News

    Danish investors to award $300m debt mandate

    2009-01-26T15:30:00Z

    [16:30 CET 26-01] DENMARK – A Danish financial institution is looking for a manager to look after a $300m (€232m) hard currency debt mandate in global emerging markets, using IPE Quest.

  • SocGen further dismantles asset management
    News

    SocGen further dismantles asset management

    2009-01-26T15:10:00Z

    [16:10 CET 26-01] FRANCE – Crédit Agricole and Société Générale, France’s second- and third largest banks, have signed a preliminary agreement to merge their asset management operations, for an undisclosed sum.

  • More time needed for Dutch recovery
    News

    More time needed for Dutch recovery

    2009-01-26T14:30:00Z

    [15:30 CET 26-01] NETHERLANDS – The Dutch employer organisation for the metal industry and union CNV have today argued pension funds need more time to recover from the global economic downturn than the current regulated timeframe.

  • KPA Pension returns 7% in 2008
    News

    KPA Pension returns 7% in 2008

    2009-01-26T14:15:00Z

    [15:15 CET 26-01] SWEDEN – KPA Pension, the SEK50bn (€4.8bn) Swedish public-sector pension company, returned 7% on its investments in 2008, despite the global economic downturn, IPE has learnt.

  • CEM and VB to map out pension operating costs
    News

    CEM and VB to map out pension operating costs

    2009-01-23T15:30:00Z

    [16:30 CET 23-01] NETHERLANDS – The Canadian CEM Benchmarking, set up by Keith Ambachtsheer, has announced it will cooperate with the Dutch association of industry-wide pension funds (VB) on new comparative research into the operating costs of pension funds.

  • Risk-free rates add £160bn to UK deficits
    News

    Risk-free rates add £160bn to UK deficits

    2009-01-23T15:10:00Z

    [16:10 CET 23-01] UK – A move to a risk-free rate of accounting as proposed by the UK accounting standards board (ASB) would add over £160bn (€170bn) to UK deficits of the Aon200 companies alone, Aon’s Marcus Hurd has warned.

  • CS, Nestlé give in to 'say on pay' pressure
    News

    CS, Nestlé give in to 'say on pay' pressure

    2009-01-23T14:15:00Z

    [15:15 CET 23-01] SWITZERLAND – Also Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse and Vevey-based food company Nestlé have agreed to give Swiss pension fund shareholders a degree of say over executive remuneration.

  • Swiss institution seeks Japanese equities
    News

    Swiss institution seeks Japanese equities

    2009-01-22T14:45:00Z

    [15:45 CET 22-01] SWITZERLAND – An institutional investor based in Switzerland is searching for a manager for a $75m (€58m) Japanese equities mandate, using IPE Quest.

  • News

    Aberdeen saw £5bn in outflows last quarter

    2009-01-22T14:45:00Z

    UK – Aberdeen Asset Management has revealed its total assets under management fell to £110.2bn (€116.7bn) in last quarter of 2008, down from £111.1bn at end-September.

  • CalPERS appoints new CIO
    News

    CalPERS appoints new CIO

    2009-01-22T14:40:00Z

    [15:40 CET 22-01] UNITED STATES – The $178bn (€137.4bn) California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the US, has named Joseph Dear, executive director of the Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) and chairman of the council of institutional investors, as its new chief investment officer.