All articles by Dominic Gane – Page 2

  • Features

    Fear of euro-zone break-up takes hold

    January 2012 (Magazine)

    Almost half of respondents to this month’s Off The Record survey felt that the biggest credible threat to the global economy or financial markets in 2012 was the euro-zone break-up beginning to look inevitable. “The risk of a break-up has consequences impossible to oversee and hedge. It is not unlikely anymore,” said a Dutch fund.

  • Features

    Hedging your bets

    December 2011 (Magazine)

    Just over 70% of respondents to this month’s Off The Record quick poll stated that their pension fund invested in hedge funds.

  • Features

    Currency affairs

    November 2011 (Magazine)

    Three-quarters of respondents to this month’s Off The Record survey used currency management, 91.5% of these doing so for currency exposure hedging and 8.5% for returns.

  • Features

    Fear, extremes and the euro

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    August was not all bad: 79.5% of respondents to the Off The Record survey stated that core government bonds had performed well; gold/precious metals (24% of respondents), currency exposures (20.5%) and global macro funds or other hedge funds (17%) also turned up trumps. But of course, that tells its own story: August was all about fear, extremes – and the euro.

  • Dutch giant APG remains world's largest fiduciary manager – IPE survey
    News

    Dutch giant APG remains world's largest fiduciary manager – IPE survey

    2011-09-22T14:15:00Z

    Local rival Cardano, US-based BlackRock make inroads on Dutch asset manager’s home turf.

  • Features

    Funds unfazed by ban

    September 2011 (Magazine)

    Almost 70% of respondents to this month’s Off The Record survey told us they had not decided to suspend securities lending in light of recent market turbulence and the short-selling bans imposed by four European countries. However, a Danish fund that had decided to suspend securities lending stated that they had taken this action as “the earnings are too little compared with the risks”.

  • Features

    Risk remains a top issue

    July 2011 (Magazine)

    Over three-quarters of respondents to this month’s Off The Record survey stated that risk management had been raised as an agenda item on their board in the past 12 months. This was slightly lower than reported at the same time last year (85%), but still clearly shows its importance as an issue for pension funds.

  • Features

    In pursuit of a good mix

    June 2011 (Magazine)

    Just over 88% of this month’s respondents said they invested with managers who use quantitative tools – although we should acknowledge some self-selection bias. Of these, 29% have a specialist quant manager section in their portfolio (and a further 12% only have them in their hedge funds) while 35% have quants working across their entire portfolio.

  • Features

    Good time for private equity

    May 2011 (Magazine)

    Just over 60% of respondents to this month’s Off The Record survey said their fund invested in private equity. One respondent said they were about to start investing, while the remaining respondents do not invest.

  • Features

    Signs are up for ESG

    April 2011 (Magazine)

    More than 70% of respondents to this month’s Off The Record survey stated their fund had an ESG policy. A Dutch fund commented: “Our participants put a lot of attention on sustainability. We have a long-term view and believe sustainability is an important theme, [and] have included it in our ...

  • Features

    Consultants have their uses

    March 2011 (Magazine)

    Just under half (45.5%) of respondents to this month’s Off The Record survey use investment consultancy services on a retainer basis. Some 32% use them on an occasional or project basis, 18% use them in other ways, such as a combination of retainer and project basis, and 4.5% never use ...

  • Features

    Get the message across

    February 2011 (Magazine)

    Respondents to this month’s Off The Record survey were evenly split on the most important form of communication with their members or participants. Some 30% believed postal correspondence to be most important, while the same number favoured their fund’s website. When asked this question a year ago, a majority of 38% stated that postal correspondence was most important, compared with 26.5% for website communication.

  • Wednesday people roundup
    News

    Wednesday people roundup

    2011-01-05T13:30:00Z

    EUROPE – Allianz Global Investors, Swiss & Global, KAS Bank, IVG, Europa Capital

  • Features

    The year ahead

    January 2011 (Magazine)

    This month’s Off the Record survey asked European pension funds for their outlook for 2011, and received varying views and concerns.

  • Features

    Hedge in the middle

    December 2010 (Magazine)

    Just over half (52%) of the respondents to this month’s Off The Record survey stated that their pension fund currently invests in hedge funds. Some 66.5% do so via fund of funds, while 58.5% do so directly.

  • Credit Suisse largest Swiss institutional manager for fourth year running - IPE
    News

    Credit Suisse largest Swiss institutional manager for fourth year running - IPE

    2010-11-19T13:30:00Z

    SWITZERLAND – Credit Suisse remains the largest manager of Swiss institutional assets, with 60% more assets under management than its nearest competitor, according to a new survey by IPE.

  • Features

    Price risk protection

    November 2010 (Magazine)

    This month’s Off The Record survey focused on inflation. The vast majority of respondents (66%) believed that low inflation of less than 3% was likely in the next 12-18 months. A Dutch fund commented: “Currently, [we] do not see inflationary pressures to justify high inflation expectations. Furthermore, the European Central Bank’s monetary policy will be tilted to be more restrictive if and when an inflationary environment is anticipated.” A Danish fund added: “Economies are recovering slowly and at present only working at 70-75% of total production capacity”.

  • IPE survey shows pension funds expecting low inflation
    News

    IPE survey shows pension funds expecting low inflation

    2010-10-20T14:30:00Z

    EUROPE – The majority of European pension funds are expecting low inflation over the next year and a half, according to a recent IPE survey.

  • Features

    Unrewarded risk

    October 2010 (Magazine)

    Three-quarters of respondents to this month’s Off The Record poll use currency management. Of these, 83.4% did so for currency exposure hedging, 8.3% for returns and 8.3% for both reasons.

  • IPE Global Top 1000 survey of institutional investors marks rise of the 'mega-fund'
    News

    IPE Global Top 1000 survey of institutional investors marks rise of the 'mega-fund'

    2010-09-02T16:10:00Z

    GLOBAL – There are now 75 pension funds in the European 'super league' – boasting more than €10bn in assets – and over 600 funds with assets of €1bn or more, according to IPE's Global Top 1000 ranking of leading institutional investors.