All articles by Daniel Brooksbank – Page 221
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EC report queries candidates’ pensions systems
EUROPE – A European Commission-backed report has questioned the viability of the pensions systems in the 13 so-called candidate countries, the mainly eastern European states who have been granted admission to the European Union.
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AIMR calls for investors’ interests to come first
US – Following a string of corporate scandals, the Association for Investment Management and Research has made a plea for investors’ interests to come first.
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Buck hires Mercer’s Littlewood for NW England
UK – Mellon Financial Corp.’s Buck Consultants has hired a former Mercer Investment Consulting senior investment consultant for its Manchester office in the north west of England.
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CAPS says UK pooled pension funds decline 18.1%
UK – UK pooled pension funds suffered their third consecutive year of negative returns in 2002 with a median return of –18.1% according to the latest Russell/Mellon CAPS pension fund survey, with the best performers either taking a cautious or stock-picking approach.
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AP6’s e24m Nordisk sale offsets market falls
SWEDEN – AP6, Sweden’s 1.9 billion euro sixth national pension fund, has sold its 25% stake in real-estate firm Nordisk Renting for 220 million kronor (23.9 million euros), saying the profit from the deal will offset stock market losses.
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RLAM names institutional sales manager
UK – Royal London Asset Management has named Barclays Global Investors’ client director Mark Willmott as its new institutional sales manager.
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Irish Pension Board concerned over DC benefits
IRELAND – The Irish pensions regulator says it is concerned that the shift to defined contribution pension schemes may result in inadequate benefits and that targets for private pension provision may not be met.
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European pension reform boosts UK’s Aviva
EUROPE – UK-based pensions and savings provider Aviva says its European pensions business rose 5% in 2002 – with the outlook buoyed by pensions reform across the continent.
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Fund managers see value in Euro stocks – survey
EUROPE – Fund managers in the euro-zone see equities in the euro-zone as undervalued and are guardedly positive about the outlook for the European economy, according to a survey by Merrill Lynch.
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UK: Higgs governance proposals welcomed
UK – A new set of proposals aimed at reforming the role of non-executive directors in UK companies has been broadly welcomed by the industry, though some say institutional shareholders will have to do their bit as well.
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Higgs report: summary of proposals
UK – Former S G Warburg banker Derek Higgs made his recommendations on reforming the role of non-executive directors (see separate story). Below is a summary of Higgs’ key proposals:
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Ex-Fed economist to head SSGA UK research unit
UK – State Street Global Advisors has set up a research centre in London, which will be headed by a former economist at the US Federal Reserve.
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Pensions on agenda at World Economic Forum
SWITZERLAND – The impact of pensions on government finances and financial markets is on the agenda at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland this week.
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Mercer HR names UK client development head
UK – Consultancy firm Mercer has named a former Royal Bank of Scotland marketing and strategy director as its head of UK client development in its human resources arm.
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Karas to table Pensions Directive amendments
BRUSSELS – Othmar Karas, the Austrian MEP who is the rapporteur to the European Parliament for the proposed Pensions Directive, is to propose 17 amendments to the directive.
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Swiss Life in outsourcing deal with State Street
BELIGUM – Swiss Life Asset Management’s Belgian operation has signed a letter of intent to outsource its back office functions to State Street, though the structure and fees of the deal are not yet finalised.
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Halcyon days of basic DB are over – Towers Perrin
UK – Consultancy firm Towers Perrin says cooperation between all parties is needed in order to avoid further accusations of pension mis-selling, saying the “halcyon days” of basic pension communications are now over.
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Calls for centralised European settlement
EUROPE – Europe’s clearing and settlement systems are fragmented and inefficient and need a centralised body - that’s the message from separate studies by Deutsche Bank and Euroclear.
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Europe clears State Street’s Deutsche custody buy
EUROPE – The European Commission has cleared State Street’s planned 1.5 billion dollar acquisition of Deutsche Bank’s global custody arm.
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Irish pension funds fall 18.9% - Mercer
IRELAND – The average Irish pension managed fund fell 18.9% in 2002, despite gaining 1.8% in the final quarter, according to research conducted by Mercer Investment Consulting.
