All Features articles – Page 133
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FeaturesThe Achilles heel of DC plans
In the third in a series of articles, Amin Rajan argues that DC plans risk sparking a gigantic mis-selling scandal
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FeaturesAdvantages of a naïve approach
Dirk Soehnholz and Marcus Burkert find that ‘naïve’ strategic asset allocation offers improved risk/return characteristics over traditional ‘pseudo-optimised’ asset allocation
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Diary of an Investor: Alternative woes
We are evaluating - constantly - our exposure to alternatives. How innocuous that word ‘alternative’ sounds; it does not do justice to the magnitude of actual and potential losses. It is not because opportunities are not there, but it is the continuing outflows that threaten us and our managers. James, ...
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Features
An area that needs more light
Pension funds should be more concerned about investment managers’ asset allocation skill, but there’s no easy way to measure it, says Joseph Mariathasan
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FeaturesMoves to maintain the balance
Spain’s €57bn reserve fund is intended to help plug the anticipated deficit in the social security budget. Diego Valero Carreras explains the background
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FeaturesWill central banks carry on cutting?
ZIRP, ‘zero interest rate policy’, first became a familiar acronym in February 1999 when the Bank of Japan (BoJ) finally cut official rates to zero. Japan was enduring a financial crisis of epic proportions, and the economy was suffering agonies as property values kept declining, the stock market plunged, prices ...
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FeaturesBeware Japanese proverbs
The experience of Japanese pension funds in the 1990s provides an interesting lesson for Western investors, finds David White
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FeaturesThe market challenge of insurance
Sarah Dudney outlines success factors critical for asset managers operating in the insurance industry
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Features
Euro-zone challenges
The massive rise in debt issuance is posing problems for European government bond markets, finds Joseph Mariathasan
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FeaturesRediscover common sense virtues
In the second in a series of articles on a new report, Amin Rajan argues that asset allocation is more about mindsets than models, as pension funds move from calendar time to real time
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FeaturesA driving interest in convertible hybrids
Convertibles are on the agenda. They played a leading role in financing the US railroad boom of the start of the 20th century, and in Japan in the 1980s when the countr y’s issuance represented 40% of the global convertible market. Bank recapitalisation will involve them. Goldman Sach’s agreement with ...
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FeaturesPension funds see crisis role
Europe’s mighty central banks are being stretched to their limits, not only in the range of problems they need to fix, but also in their financial firepower. In some countries, pension funds have stepped in as the new investors of last resort, transforming themselves almost overnight into Pension Fund plc ...
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FeaturesDebt dilemmas
The chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), Sir David Tweedie, might do well to listen a little more closely to Berlin than to Washington. In line with problems outlined in November last year by the executive chairman of Germany’s DRSC accountancy standard setter, Heinz-Joachim Neubürger (see end), ...
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FeaturesDecision time
Gail Moss outlines structures and models for pension fund investment decision making
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Features
Get down to the detail
Transaction proposals for collateralised finance trades are still not acknowledging the appropriate risks, says Jeroen Wilbrink. Pension funds should only make their balance sheet available at the right price
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FeaturesTaxing developments
Peter Schonewille reports on infringement procedures against 14 EU member states over withholding tax, on a recent opinion on Finnish dividend taxation and on real estate taxation
