All IPE articles in December 2011 (Magazine)
View all stories from this issue.
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Country Report
Switzerland: The super regulator
Pierre Triponez, president of new Swiss federal pensions supervisory body – the Oberaufsichtskommission (OAK) – discusses his role and remit with Cécile Sourbes
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Country Report
Switzerland: Life in a safe haven
September’s shock devaluation of the Swiss franc halted the decline in the value of Swiss pension funds’ foreign assets. On the other hand, ultra- low rates are putting extreme pressure on funds. Nina Röhrbein assesses asset allocation in the light of these extremes
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: The governance minefield
Milan’s ECPI assesses the sustainability of hedge funds’ portfolios – and their business models. Martin Steward spoke to CEO Paolo Sardi
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: Still work to do on governance
Hedge funds still suffer an image problem, writes John Donohoe. Carne Global’s latest investor survey reveals the institutional investors’ governance concerns
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Features
Ireland returns to the funding standard
With the imminent reintroduction of the funding standard in Ireland, as well as new guidelines on sovereign annuities, the pension industry is to witness some significant changes.
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Country Report
Switzerland: No magic formula
The minimum interest rate in the Swiss second pillar was recently cut from 2% to 1.5% for 2012, writes Barbara Ottawa. But experts believe this is still too high to be sustainable
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Country Report
Switzerland: More fairness needed
Pension funds are feeling the pinch in the sovereign debt crisis, writes Gérard Fischer, CEO of Swisscanto. In the long term, they can only deliver their promised benefits through a better distribution of assets, income and recapitalisation contributions between generations
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Country Report
Switzerland: Efficient stability
Nina Röhrbein reviews current Swiss asset allocation trends
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Features
Dutch fiduciaries maintain their guard
Fiduciary managers foresee greater demand for inflation-linked strategies and give a cautious welcome to some aspects of a still vague pension deal, writes Mariska van der Westen
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: A decade on the learning curve
Martin Steward spoke to Finnish pension insurance company Varma about its experiences at the cutting edge of absolute returns
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Country Report
Switzerland: The problem of converting minds
Legally, Swiss Pensionskassen have to apply a 6.9% conversion rate but the actual rate used is much lower. Barbara Ottawa asks why politics are not adjusting to reality
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Features
Swiss challenge
Global custodians are finding Swiss accounting regulations a barrier to its custody and servicing market, writes Iain Morse
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: Once bitten... twice shy
The year 2011 has been a good one for emerging hedge fund talent. However, prospective candidates are being put through their paces by cautious investors, finds Lynn Strongin Dodds
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Features
Hedging your bets
Just over 70% of respondents to this month’s Off The Record quick poll stated that their pension fund invested in hedge funds.
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: A true alternative
Bainbridge Partners exploits the fact that some hedge fund strategies simply diversify better than others, finds Martin Steward
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Features
I polder, you polder
In October, the Dutch pension system was named the best in the world for the third year running by the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension index. But despite its top ranking, the Dutch system scored less on adequacy and sustainability than the previous year and its overall index value slipped from 78.3 to 77.9. In the Netherlands, as elsewhere, pension provision is under threat from a rising tide of troubles, including an ageing (and long-lived) population, low interest rates and fretful financial markets.
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Special Report
The shipping news
The shipping business would seem to be directly linked to the health of the world economy. Why would you want to invest as the world slows down? Lynn Strongin Dodds finds that it is not that simple
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Features
Leave it to technocrats?
Those who believe that governance by technocrat will solve Italy’s ills should think again. The IASB is currently working on a three-bucket approach for financial asset impairment. The idea is that newly originated or purchased loans – the model must work for both – are allocated by an entity to one of three buckets. And in very general terms, assets will move from one bucket to another in order to reflect deteriorating credit quality and credit losses. This is the board’s third stab at developing an impairment model since 2009.
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Special Report
Turning Japanese?
Technical signals from the bond markets and fundamental economic parallels have spooked some commentators about the ‘Japanisation’ of the world. Anthony Harrington asks if we should be bracing ourselves for the inevitable ‘lost decades’
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Opinion Pieces
IORP under pressure
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority’s (EIOPA) call for advice on the subject of revisions to the EU’s 2003 IORP Directive on work-place-based pensions closes on 2 January 2012. It seeks advice on the extent to which the legislative framework should be similar to that for other financial institutions and products.
