All IPE articles in December 2008 (Online) – Page 6

  • News

    Pensions risk eyed with short-term view

    2008-12-17T15:45:00Z

    [16:45 CET 17-12] GLOBAL – Pensions risk is viewed primarily as a short-term financial risk and changes to pensions strategies are being increasingly driven by corporate accounting, according to the latest study by Hewitt Associates.

  • News

    UK life expectancy to 'level off' from 2021

    2008-12-18T13:00:00Z

    [14:00 CET 18-12] UK – Life expectancy at the UK state pension age (SPA) will begin to "level off" between 2021 and 2051 for the average person, although members of the lower socio-economic groups, such as unskilled workers, could see life expectancy decline.

  • News

    APW expands inflation bonds margin

    2008-12-18T15:00:00Z

    [18-12] NETHERLANDS - The €678m pension fund of media company Wegener (APW) has widened the investment window for inflation-linked bonds, as part of a recovery plan to tackle underfunding.

  • News

    Siemens opens Pensionskasse

    2008-12-18T15:10:00Z

    [15:10 CET 18-12] AUSTRIA – The Austrian branch of international group Siemens is planning to turn its Pensionskasse into a multi-employer fund.

  • News

    PanAgora to cut link with Union 'because'

    2008-12-18T15:45:00Z

    [16:45 CET 18-12] GERMANY/US – Union PanAgora, the quantitative investment management boutique jointly owned with Union Investment and PanAgora Asset Management, will have a new name from next year as PanAgora is pulling of the venture.

  • News

    RSA to develop low cost pension option

    2008-12-18T15:50:00Z

    [16:50 CET 18-12] UK – The Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts Manufacture and Commerce (RSA) has confirmed it intends to develop a business plan for a new low-cost pension fund which it believes will fill a gap in the market.

  • News

    Glasgow university seeks actuarial and admin support

    2008-12-18T15:55:00Z

    [16:55 CET 18-12] UK – The University of Glasgow is seeking one or more providers for actuarial and consultancy services and scheme administration and related services for its pension scheme for non-academic staff.

  • News

    Discount range leaves firms with accounting choice

    2008-12-18T16:00:00Z

    [17:00 CET 18-12] EUROPE – Recent distortions to corporate bond yields, particularly among bonds in the financial sector, means the range of discount rates available to value pension liabilities could see results differing by around €2.5bn, Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP) has revealed.

  • News

    Ireland eases DB funding over market worries

    2008-12-19T14:00:00Z

    [15:00 CET 19-12] IRELAND – The Irish government has announced a series of measures designed to ease funding pressures on defined benefit (DB) schemes following the recent market volatility.

  • News

    BT staff vote to accept pension changes

    2008-12-19T14:10:00Z

    [15:15 CET 19-12] UK – Members of the BT Pension Scheme involved in consultative ballots with the trade unions Connect and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have voted to accept the pension package unveiled by the company earlier this year.

  • News

    Varma sells telecoms stake to Finnish gov't

    2008-12-19T14:20:00Z

    [15:20 CET 19-12] FINLAND – Varma Mutual Insurance Pension Company has sold almost 10% of its shares in telecoms company Elisa Oyj to the Finnish government, in the completion of an earlier agreement.

  • News

    Irish listed pension deficits hit €3.5bn

    2008-12-19T14:50:00Z

    [15:50 CET 19-12] IRELAND – Irish listed companies with defined benefit schemes have pensions accounting deficits worth approximately €3.5bn or 12-14% of their market capitalisation, suggests analysis conducted by Attain Consulting.

  • News

    Only workers to receive BPF Bouw indexation

    2008-12-19T15:15:00Z

    [16:15 CET 19-12] NETHERLANDS – Officials at BPF Bouw, the €23bn pension fund for the building industry, have announced pensioners will not receive indexation on their retirement plans and only working members will be allocated a partial indexation payment this year because the fund is below its required cover ratio.

  • News

    Hedge fund specialists to buy SGAM UK

    2008-12-19T15:35:00Z

    [16:35 CET 19-12] UK – Société Générale Asset Management has sold its London-based asset management subsidiary to GLG Partners Inc for an undisclosed sum.

  • News

    DNB hints at change to liability discounting

    2008-12-19T15:45:00Z

    [16:45 CET 19-12] NETHERLANDS - Dutch pensions regulator De Nederlandsche Bank has hinted it might reconsider the way pension funds must calculate their liabilities.

  • News

    Danish pensions cut interest rates to 2.5%

    2008-12-19T15:50:00Z

    [16:50 CET 19-12] DENMARK – Two Danish pension funds have confirmed the interest rates on customers' pension accounts will be cut to 2.5% in 2009.

  • News

    Madoff fraud costs pension funds €44m so far

    2008-12-22T15:30:00Z

    [16:30 CET 22-12] EUROPE – Only a handful of European pension funds have declared an indirect investment interest in the recent Madoff 'Ponzi' scheme, fraud but the potential losses to date are now understood to be in the region of at least €44m.

  • News

    ABP and PFZW skip indexation

    2008-12-22T15:35:00Z

    [16:35 CET 22-12] NETHERLANDS - Neither the large civil service pension fund ABP nor healthcare scheme PFZW will grant their participants an indexation payment for 2009.

  • News

    NPRF to pay for €5.5bn bank bailout

    2008-12-22T15:40:00Z

    [16:40 CET 22-12] IRELAND – The Irish government has confirmed it is to invest an initial €5.5bn into three banks, though the National Pension reserve Fund (NPRF) could earn up to €500m a year from the deal as it is expected to be the "main source of funding" for the ...

  • News

    Nordic pension funds team up on ESG

    2008-12-22T15:45:00Z

    [16:45 CET 22-12] SCANDINAVIA – Three pension companies from Finland, Norway and Sweden have joined together as the Nordic Engagement Cooperation (NEC) to coordinate engagement activities with companies on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.