All Country Report articles – Page 42
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Nordic Region: Finland Eyes to the east
Reeta Paakkinen assesses Finnish pension funds’ concerns about the political situation in Russia after it annexed the Ukrainian province of Crimea
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France: Search for yield drives market
French insurers now delegate more than €100bn to third-party managers, finds Richard Bruyère. But asset managers must adapt their business models if they wish to benefit
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Nordic Region: Chasing real yields
Jonathan Williams examines how real assets play a role in the portfolios of Nordic investors in the low-yield environment
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France: Larger mandates on the cards
Gilles Pouzin assesses the latest Agirc-Arcco reforms and the ramifications for asset management
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Nordic Region: Iceland Deflating the bubble
Iceland’s post-crisis capital controls left pension funds chasing limited domestic assets, writes Jonathan Williams. The hope is that a resurgent economy will allay the risk of a bubble
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France: SME cash lifeline gains investors’ attention
Cash-starved French SMEs are being offered competitive financing through an initiative led by Caisse des Dépôts that also provides insurers and pension funds with relatively safe income assets in a low-yield environment, finds Gilles Pouzin
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Germany: Long-term horizons and pensions
Cornelia Schmid and Verena Menne outline practical measures that would allow German occupational pension funds to invest more in long-term assets
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Germany: Yielding low results
German Pensionskassen are faced with an unenviable situation – restrictive investment guidelines and a target return that can no longer be met through core bond holdings. Jonathan Williams explores where the funds can go in search for yield
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Germany: KVG paper trail
The first German KVG’s were granted licences at the beginning of 2014. But the real transition has only just started, according to Barbara Ottawa
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Germany: Pooling – now in Germany
Wilhelm Gold outlines the possibilities of the Investment-KG for cross-border pension pooling
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Germany: Funds want it their way
German Versorgungswerke have a lot of money they need to invest long-term but they are happier without European regulation, writes Barbara Ottawa
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Germany: The wise man of corporate governance
Germany is awakening to the need for better corporate governance. This is the view of Christian Strenger, a former chairman of the International Corporate Governance Network, who has formidable board-level experience gained over many decades in banking and asset management.
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Austria: Keeping it complicated
Austrian Pensionskassen portfolios are highly diverse, which not only makes it difficult to speak of ‘average performance’, but also complicates administration and liability management, writes Barbara Ottawa
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Germany: Tests of an ageing workforce
German pension benefits need to change to reflect the greying workforce, argue Thomas Jasper and Stephan Wildner. Companies whose workforces appreciate what is on offer will be better placed to attract and retain talent
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Germany: Few heads above the parapet
While UK funds were involved in the shareholder spring, North American investors write open letters to company boards and Dutch and Norwegian pension investors blacklist firms. Germany’s occupational sector is less keen to be seen challenging businesses, finds Jonathan Williams
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The Netherlands: State-guaranteed securitisation
The Dutch government would like the country’s pension funds to support the housing market by investing in mortgage bonds. But details remain sketchy, as Caroline Saunders reports
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The Netherlands: A psychologist’s view of pensions
Prospect theory and a psychological analysis of the way scheme participants respond to a variety of pension promises may help to design a pension system better suited to member preferences, according to Thomas van Galen and Noortje van der Vorst
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The Netherlands: Real economy investment
Anton van Nunen describes a new initiative to boost lending to the Dutch SME sector
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The Netherlands: ‘Our first duty is pensions’
Peter Borgdorff tells Liam Kennedy about PFZW’s new contract with PGGM and its unstinting focus on costs
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The Netherlands: Can they have their cake and eat it?
In their search for a sustainable pension system, the Dutch are exploring ways to combine DB and DC. Theo Kocken shares his vision with Mariska van der Westen
