All IPE articles in December 2001 (Magazine)
View all stories from this issue.
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Features
Return of the 'R' word
Equity and bond markets have exhibited heightened volatility in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the US. The slowdown in global economic activity since the beginning of this year and the associated deterioration in corporate profits growth has caused equity markets to fall sharply, leaving equity valuations at attractive ...
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Features
Poor understanding of risk
It has been a busy autumn for UK pension funds. There has been so much going on, so many important issues to consider. The problem is where to start commentating. One of the more fascinating subjects is the current court action between The Unilever Superannuation Fund and Merrill Lynch Investment ...
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Features
Optimism on tax progress
The European Parliament committee on economic and monetary affairs (EMAC), has unanimously voted in favour of the adoption of the draft report on taxation of occupational pensions by Dutch socialist MEP, Ieke van den Burg – throwing its weight behind the EC’s proposal for a communication on the fiscal treatment ...
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Features
Learning the lessons
The events of 11 September exposed weaknesses in the US securities trading, clearing and settlement infrastructure. Inadequate disaster recovery arrangements by key institutions, the over-concentration of processes in too few organisations, and the lack of redundancy in communication networks are among the issues local firms, industry bodies and regulators are ...
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Features
Measuring implementation shortfall
An unmanaged or poorly managed portfolio transition can at its worst combine opportunity costs, market impact and commissions to produce breathtaking costs. You needn’t look far for horror stories. A recent article in the US quoted the transaction cost company Plexus as saying one of the transitions it monitored has ...
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Features
Opting out: illusion or reality
April the first next year sees the Netherlands’ Z scores reach their fifth birthday and members of industry-wide funds have the option of dropping out and seeking investment management and pensions administration elsewhere if their scheme fails to meet the prescribed level. The number of funds that are likely to ...
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Features
'Interest rates and hope'
The markets have at last begun to rally from the year’s lows recorded in September, but analysts already wonder if the recovery is sustainable. “The recovery since the September lows has been really quite rapid, especially in telecoms and technology, but the markets are still plagued by uncertainty, in respect ...
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Features
What we have we hold
One of the side effects of the events of 11 September has been a flight from equities to cash by European institutional investors. Cash still represents the safest haven for funds in times of market uncertainty and, if managed actively, can produce modest but useful returns. Investors have moved assets ...
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Features
Pleas for help
As many as eight European member states may be blocking the proposed European Directive on occupational pension funds due to opposition to the prudent person investment rule, Othmar Karas, European Parliament rapporteur for the directive, has told the EFRP/NAPF International Conference in Brussels. In a speech urging the European pensions ...
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Features
Grappling with liability overhang
The current reform of Germany’s pension system has signalled a change in attitude to liabilities. The belief that assets can always match liabilities was summed up in the complacent government catchphrase “your pension is safe”. This certainty has been replaced by a growing sense that liabilities have grown too large ...
