EUROPE – Credit Suisse First Boston has set up a group to advise both corporate and government sponsored pension plans across Europe.

The group is designed to co-ordinate the delivery of CSFB’s current range of services to pension funds - investment banking services, research and securities products. These include asset and liability management strategies, equity and debt yield enhancement, risk management, capital-raising and transition management. The group will also utilise CSFB’s extensive range of asset and liability management tools.

The aims are to reduce risk and volatility between assets and liabilities, and to boost return thereby creating a robust base upon which pension trustees can build.

Giles Keating and Simon Ford will head up the unit, dubbed the European Pensions Advisory and Structuring Group. Keating was previously chief economist and head of fixed income research and economics at CSFB before taking a year’s sabbatical and returning in May.

Ford was co-head of the fund-linked products group at CSFB. A further three CSFB employees will join the two co-heads. The team of five will be based in London.

Keating said: “The aim is to put together the expertise of the investment banking side with the obvious issues and problems facing pension funds and their sponsors and come up with solutions.” He added that, where appropriate, the group would also be developing new products. The main countries targeted are the UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Ireland.

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