All IPE articles in December 2001 (Magazine) – Page 3
-
Features
Finnish unions reach last-ditch deal
Finnish labour organisations have reached a last-ditch agreement on reform of the country’s first-pillar TEL pensions system, although some confusion remains as to the nature and timing of some of the reforms. The Finnish government had threatened Finnish social partners that if they could not agree on the changes to ...
-
Features
Equal treatment threat to DB
A new proposed directive from the EU is, in my view, potentially much more important for pension schemes than the pensions directive itself. The directive on establishing a General Framework for Equal Treatment in Employment and Occupation could have far reaching implications for pension scheme design across the EU. This ...
-
Features
Custodians' pivotal role
Cash is trash, the investment gurus have always told us, a maxim that reflects the widely-held view that cash should have a very limited part to play in any serious asset allocation strategy. Until recently, cash was seen as a relatively unimportant asset class, ranking well behind equities and bonds ...
-
Features
Weighing up critical mass
Size will matter for providers in the new pensions market in Germany, says Commerzbank Securities (ComSec) in a research paper, German Pensions – racing for a bigger prize. ComSec believes that critical mass will become important, since Germany’s new private pensions are low-margin, large-scale products. In addition, ComSec points out ...
-
Features
Growing market for commodity indices
As equity returns have slumped, so the appeal of alternative investments has risen. Commodities in particular are seen by many as having advantages not just in terms of diversification, but also as assets which can produce solid growth. In this environment, Standard & Poor’s has lauched its new commodities index. ...
-
Features
Collaborative effort
As many of the Netherlands’ Industry-wide pension funds split their administrative and investment management departments, there’s a hub in Rijswijk where exactly the opposite is underway. Five company schemes and one Industry-wide pension fund, who last year announced they were launching a cooperative, have taken delivery of the keys to ...
-
Features
Clydesdale: in from the cold
Ask clients to name potential custody providers, and until very recently the odds would have been heavily stacked against the name Clydesdale Bank figuring very high on any list of candidates, if indeed it was to be found at all. Despite having offered domestic trustee and custody services for some ...
-
Features
New channel in and out of equity markets
While past efforts to harmonise clearing and settlement and other related market practices across the rest of Continental Europe have been fitful at best, the four markets of the Nordic region – Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway – have on the whole tended to be far better disposed towards regional ...
-
Features
UK sees rapid pace of change
The pace of change in the UK pensions market over the last 30 years has been more dramatic than in any other major institutional market, claims Greenwich Associates, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based research and consulting firm. Of particular note in the UK, says Greenwich, is the shift by schemes in their ...
-
Features
Waiting for signals to change
UK equities have recovered some of the losses they suffered following 11 September and there are signs that the domestic economy is more robust than previously feared. But investors’ hopes for a more geographically widespread upturn in economic fortunes could paradoxically dent share index levels in the UK. This is ...
