All Features articles – Page 146

  • Features

    Institutions stem net outflows

    April 2008 (Magazine)

    Investment management companies with business in Germany managed around €1.4trn as of December 2007, a record volume in investment funds. This sum is divided roughly equally into (retail) mutual fund business and institutional Spezialfonds business. Equity funds are still the predominant category in the area of mutual funds, despite massive ...

  • Refocusing on risk
    Features

    Refocusing on risk

    April 2008 (Magazine)

    After five years of growth the recent market turmoil is leading to a strategic reassessment on the part of asset managers in France. Nina Röhrbein examines the emerging trends

  • Turning the supertanker
    Features

    Turning the supertanker

    April 2008 (Magazine)

    Agirc and Arrco have been seen as the backbone of the French pension system for years. But how will they fair in the future? Alain Lemoine examines the options

  • FI and multi-strategy lose out
    Features

    FI and multi-strategy lose out

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    Funds of Funds, like hedge funds, got off to a rough start to 2008, and the Eurekahedge Fund of Funds index had its worst month since inception, losing 2.9 %.

  • Features

    CTAs are sole performer

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    January was characterised by a strong decline in stock markets, with an S&P500 return of -6.12%. This index, which fell for the third month in a row, finished the month at its level of October 2006.

  • Features

    Market crisis hits 2007 results

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    The financial markets turbu-lence seen in the last five months of 2007 had a major impact on pension fund performance across Europe.

  • EU warning over tax discrimination
    Features

    EU warning over tax discrimination

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    Germany and Estonia received formal notices from the European Commission requesting information concerning different tax treatment of foreign pension funds on dividends and interest.

  • Features

    New Jersey buys financials cheaply

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    These days the most talked about pension fund in the US is New Jersey State’s Retirement System. With $81bn (€54.7bn) in assets, it is the ninth largest US public pension fund. It is also the instigator of a highly innovative attempt to team with other large institutional investors, including foreign ...

  • Industry-wide get together
    Features

    Industry-wide get together

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    Sector funds were intended to expand second pillar provision but they have been slow to take off. George Coats examines why

  • Features

    Keeping something in reserve

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    An Ageing Fund has been put in place to provide assistance with financing public expenditure. But it is far from a silver bullet, finds George Coats

  • Dealing with external advisers
    Features

    Dealing with external advisers

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    IPE asked three pension services – in Germany, the UK and Poland – the same question: ‘How do you make use of consultants?’ Here are their answers

  • Why hedge funds mismanage alpha risk
    Features

    Why hedge funds mismanage alpha risk

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    The greatest source of market-driven hedge fund blow-ups is alpha, or manager skill risk. Leslie Rahl, Richard Horwitz and Erin Simpson of Capital Market Risk Advisors suggest this is due to an inadequate management of alpha risk

  • Unlocking the buyout market
    Features

    Unlocking the buyout market

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    The UK’s pension buyout sector has generated attention and controversy in almost equal measure. Joseph Mariathasan discusses business models and future trends with leading players

  • Features

    First component change for DJIA since 2004

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    Bank of America and Chevron have replaced Altria Group and Honeywell International in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Altria, known as Philip Morris until 2003, had been in the industrial average since October 1985. Last year it spun off Kraft Foods and announced a spin-off of Philip Morris International in ...

  • Features

    Looking for alternative advice

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    Pension funds and other institutional investors usually go to established consultants for advice about traditional investments. But where do they go for advice about alternative investments, and in particular, hedge funds? David White reports

  • Features

    The rise of the specialist adviser

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    Rachel Fixsen charts the emergence of niche consultants and advisers in the pensions advice market

  • Moving further afield
    Features

    Moving further afield

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    Entering a new market poses challenges. Nina Röhrbein assesses the factors required to make it a success

  • Features

    Asset allocation

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    Equities Investors are more bullish on US and UK equity markets and more bearish on Japan, Asia, and euro-zone equities. Asia experienced the biggest decline in sentiment; with the number of investors predicting a rise in Asian equities falling 10%. Asia had been the one bright spot in terms ...

  • Features

    Not another dagger?

    March 2008 (Magazine)

    The recent paper from the UK Accounting Standards Board (ASB) was described by Aon Consulting as “another dagger in the side of final salary pensions”. But when is a dagger not a dagger? Apparently, when an organisation or even an individual does something to draw attention to the increasingly unsustainable ...