All IPE articles in December 2011 (Magazine) – Page 2
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Opinion Pieces
Long-Term Matters: Executive Pay
Why should investment professionals care about the ‘#Occupy’ protests? The majority of the public – ie, our customers – share some of the protesters’ views, even if they are not on the streets. One potent driver is the huge growth in income inequality over recent decades. With this comes disgust with politicians for being the primary ‘enablers’.
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Opinion Pieces
Fiona Stewart, OECD
Fiona Stewart, principal administrator at the OECD, considers why many institutional investors have failed to live up to their long-term investment potential.
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Special Report
Forests into fixed income
Despite being relatively new to the fixed income market, green bonds offer responsible investors a good opportunity to invest sustainably. Nina Röhrbein reports
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Features
Too much of a good thing?
A well structured fund can enjoy a return premium of up to 1%. What governance structures should smaller pension funds aspire to? Gail Moss reports
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Opinion Pieces
Investing for impact
“When traditional investors look at impact investing they sometimes think they have to sacrifice returns. Fortunately, there are many examples of impact investing that lead to both competitive returns and positive social impact. In fact, it can be a very competitive field of investing activities versus mainstream assets,” says Scott Budde, head of the global social and community investing department at TIAA-CREF. This is why TIAA-CREF, with $440bn (€319bn) assets, has been involved in impact investing since 2006, and socially responsible investing since the 1980s.
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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.
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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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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
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
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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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
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: 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
Swiss challenge
Global custodians are finding Swiss accounting regulations a barrier to its custody and servicing market, writes Iain Morse
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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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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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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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Country Report
Switzerland: Efficient stability
Nina Röhrbein reviews current Swiss asset allocation trends
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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: 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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