All IPE articles in December 2009 (Online) – Page 3
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News
iShares refutes Watson Wyatt caution over ETFs (amended)
[16:35 CET 09-12] GLOBAL – Global ETF provider iShares has hit back at claims by consultancy firm Watson Wyatt suggesting ETFs are in most cases an unattractive investment for most institutional investors, and argued the pricing of products is in many cases equal to that of passive index investments.
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UK gov't hints at auto-enrolment delay to pensions
[16:50 CET 09-12] UK – The UK government has revealed that the cost of private pension reform to UK businesses under the current economic climate is behind a decision to slow the implementation of future pensions auto-enrolment.
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Dutch schemes performed better than overseas - study
[17:00 CET 09-12] NETHERLANDS - Dutch industry-wide pension funds lost an average of 9.3% on their investments in 2008, but this is still considerably better than the performance of pension plans elsewhere, according to a study conducted by CEM Benchmarking.
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UK employee contributions outstrip employers
[17:05 CET 09-12] UK – Employee contributions to funded pension schemes reached £42.5bn in 2008, overtaking the rate of employer contributions for the first time in six years.
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Dutch DC providers fail cost clarity test
[13:30 CET 10-12] NETHERLANDS - Pension funds and insurers must provide their members with more clarity on the costs of their defined contribution arrangements as few are meeting regulatory requirements, according to communications watchdog the Financial Markets Authority.
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Irish public sector turns to career average scheme
[14:00 CET 10-12] IRELAND – A new career average pension scheme is being introduced for new entrants to the public sector workforce from next year, in an effort to cut the government pay and pensions bill.
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UK public sector pension cap is 'scam' - Ros Altmann
UK – Expected savings of around £1bn (€1.1bn) a year on public sector pensions, following the introduction of a cap on taxpayer contributions, is a “scam” according to a pensions expert.
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News
Long-term investing could be dead, says FRR chief
[15:00 CET 10-12] EUROPE - Antoine de Salins, chief executive of FRR, France's national pension reserve fund, has urged institutional investors to lobby for greater macro-financial stability, as he warned greater incidence of extreme “tail events” could otherwise leave long-term investing “dead”.
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News
German association fears contribution drop
[16:00 CET 10-12] GERMANY – The VFPK, the German association of company Pensionskassen, has warned that a government move to introduce tax advantages for employers offering shares as part of salary entitlement could divert money from occupational pension schemes.
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News
UK roundup - Royal Mail, Wandsworth, Oxford and Powys
[16:15 CET 10-12] UK – Royal Mail has also revealed its pension deficit may have tripled in the last three years while three local authorities are making changes to their pension funds.
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News
Video interview: SCA considers early adoption of multi-OPF
[16:30 CET 10-12] NETHERLANDS – Officials at the Dutch pension funds of SCA Paper and Hygiene could be one of the first Dutch groups to create a multi-OPF next year, in a bid to gain improved governance and administration.
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News
AHV reports over 9% for first 10 months
[13:00 CET 11-12] SWITZERLAND – Marco Netzer, head of the Swiss first pillar fund AHV, expects „a very good“ annual result and prepares for major structural changes next year.
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News
Two down, one to go: FRR signs fresh credit strategies
[13:30 CET 11-12] FRANCE - Fonds de Reserve pour les Retraites (FRR), the French pension reserve fund, has completed the appointment for its second lot of bond mandates, and now has just one more to go.
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News
Strong gains allow Industriens to pay 6%
[16:00 CET 11-12] DENMARK - Industriens Pension is boosting the account dividend it pays scheme members to 6% next year, as a result of the high returns it made on shares and corporate bonds this year.
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News
Pensions funds still wary of economic cycle challenges
[16:00 CET 11-12] EUROPE – Pension funds consider equity risk, interest-rate risk and the economic cycle to be the most significant challenges they face at present, according to the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pension Supervisors (CEIOPS).
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News
Icelandic pensions establish private equity fund
[16:10 CET 11-12] ICELAND – Sixteen Icelandic pension funds have co-founded the Icelandic Investment Fund (Framtakssjóður Íslands), which is designed to invest in domestic companies that have suffered in the financial crisis but which show potential.
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News
Ofgem goes ahead with 15yr DB funding period
[16:15 CET 11-12] UK – Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, is to continue with plans to apply a 15-year optional funding period across all energy companies, in a bid to recover the cost of pension deficits from customers.
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News
TPR accused of 'scaremongering' over enhanced transfers
[16:30 CET 11-12] UK – Consultants have hit out at the Pension Regulator's (TPR) tougher stance on enhanced pension transfer values, and accused it of "scaremongering" or at best of being "unhelpful".
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News
Tata becomes only candidate in UK personal accounts bid
UK – The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) has confirmed Great-West Retirement Services (Europe) Ltd has become the third company to withdraw from the competitive dialogue process to provide scheme administration services for personal accounts, leaving just Tata in the running for the contract.
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News
Dutch company pensions lag on ESG take-up
[15:30 CET 14-012] NETHERLANDS - Company pension funds are still lagging behind their other Dutch colleagues in their use of sustainable investments, according to the Association of Investors for Sustainable Investment (VBDO).
