All Features articles – Page 120
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Features
Common-sense overlay
Brendan Maton spoke to Jo Ray, who runs the pension fund of Lincolnshire County Council on England’s east coast, about the fund’s common-sense approach to in-house and external asset management
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Features
Get converted
The convex payoff of convertible bonds is well-suited to these uncertain times. But Martin Steward asks how easy – or desirable – it is to maintain optimal convexity
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Features
A cornerstone of excellence
In the fifth and final article in a new survey, Jervis Smith and Amin Rajan argue that outsourcing is no longer a nickel-and-dime business
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Features
Corridor demolished
The corridor is no more. On 20 October, members of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) voted to scrap the IAS19 deferral mechanism. In its place comes the net interest approach.
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Features
Keep it in the family
Gail Moss examines the arguments for and against retaining control of asset management in-house
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Features
Global systems lack an ‘A’
Comparing more than a dozen pension systems worldwide, some might expect at least one to achieve the highest mark. However, Mercer, working with the Australian Centre for Financial Studies (ACFS) on comparing retirement arrangements across the globe in its second Melbourne Mercer Global Pension index, was unable to award an ...
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Features
Heavyweights reject Solvency II
Policymakers, pundits and pensions gurus gathered in Brussels recently to attend the European Commission conference on the Green Paper on pensions. And while the event’s official line may have been safety, sustainability, transparency, working together – with László Andor, commissioner for employment, social affairs and inclusion, pointing out that funding ...
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Features
Hedge in the middle
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.
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Features
Tributes to Koen De Ryck
Koen De Ryck, who for many years ran Pragma Consulting in Brussels, passed away in September at the age of 66. During his long and distinguished career he was the Brussels representative for the European Federation for Retirement Provision (EFRP), and penned the 1996 report ‘European Pension Funds: Their impact ...
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Features
AOW at 66 in 2020 still on cards
The Dutch minority government that came to power in October – led by the liberal party VVD and the Christian Democrats – has said it will continue the process of increasing the official retirement age for the largely pay-as-you-go state pension AOW from 65 to 66.
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Features
AP7’s Peter Norman hired in ministerial reshuffle
The appointment of Peter Norman, former head of AP7, as the Swedish minister for financial markets, replacing Mats Odell, caught both the political and financial sectors by surprise. Those in financial markets were surprised that the politicians managed to make an unusually savvy choice, while those in finance were surprised ...
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Features
Twin-track approach
Nina Röhrbein asked Henrik Olejasz Larsen (pictured), CIO of Denmark’s Sampension, about the challenge of offering policies based on contrasting investment strategies
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Features
Case study of a US asset manager
“Asset management is a craft industry and may always remain so. Its food chain is changing but predictions about consolidation are too simplistic. In manufacturing, consolidation is occurring in ownership, not activities: as size has proved an enemy of alpha, the craft end is being fragmented to create independent and ...
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Features
Bridging the Atlantic
Gail Moss reports on a transatlantic collaboration project between four pension associations to form a joint response on accounting standards proposals
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Features
Diary of an Investor: Don’t ban hammers
This year, staff from the global offices of Wasserdicht pension funds are in Amsterdam for our annual get-together. This explains why I am hosting the event.
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Features
Cashflow kings
Any long-term investor should be a dividend investor, notes Lynn Strongin Dodds. But the rules of the game are changing
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Features
NAPF delegates meet the new government
The National Association of Pension Funds’ annual conference in Liverpool came at a time of uncertainty for British pensions: there was the announcement of a new Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levy; the release of Lord John Hutton’s report into public pensions; and Steve Webb’s assurance to the industry that auto-enrolment ...
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Features
German education funds a no-brainer
Germany has jumped on the bandwagon of education funds, with pension funds sensing an opportunity for uncorrelated returns above bond yields with an altruistic benefit. On average, a German student wanting to graduate from a private university needs €25-30,000, of which only a small proportion is covered by grants.
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Features
Fiduciary expands in UK
Towers Watson received important backing in October for its implemented consulting offering following its appointment to an expanded ‘delegated CIO’ brief by the £3bn (€3.5bn) UK Merchant Navy Officers’ Pension Fund (MNOPF). Terminology aside, this is a fiduciary management agreement and as such is the largest in the UK to ...
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Features
Finns juggle political hot potato
The 2011 general election in Finland could mean the end of the Loppu system. Iain Morse reports
