All Features articles – Page 202
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Features
Russia gets taste of market
Non-state (private) pension funds (NSPFs) consider September 1992 the birth date of the pension industry in Russia. At that time President Yeltsin signed a decree making it possible to set up the first funds. In legal terms they had to be socially oriented not-for-profit organisations. Then such a status was ...
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Features
Global liquidity under threat?
Yield curve/duration An uncomfortable unease is permeating all asset classes across all markets. What will the Fed chairman Bernanke do next? Go for more tightening to show the markets that he too is as tough on inflation as his hugely respected predecessor? Or will he wait, giving the US economy ...
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Features
In the prime of life
At 25, the European Federation for Retirement Provision would appear to be in the prime of life having helped to steer the EU pension fund directive through. But it’s work is far from over, with a full agenda which includes helping to ensure the directive is indeed implemented as well ...
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Features
Persuading the silent majority
The slow development of Italian pension funds is mainly due to the lack of resources to finance them. Neither the companies nor the employees have ‘serious money’ to put into the funds. Contributions made to the pension funds by companies and employees so far have been almost nominal (ie, a ...
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Features
In a world of their own
Size matters when it comes to pension funds. The bigger the fund, the better value it can give scheme members, through economies of scale on the investment side. On the other hand, when a single pension fund has to cover an exceptionally broad geographical area, the costs can mount up. ...
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Features
Kvaerner Pension Fund in E145m settlement
A dispute over the £1.2bn Kvaerner Pension Fund in the UK has been settled with a total payout of £101m (€145m) over six years from TH Global, the former Kvaerner Plc. “In return for payments totalling £101m, TH Global and its subsidiaries will no longer be associated with the Kvaerner ...
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Features
GIPS - 20 years after
In 1987, when the Financial Analysts Federation began to develop standards on how investment managers should present their performance to prospective clients, I doubt that they had any idea the impact their efforts would make. Like a snowball rolling down hill, growing larger as it continues its journey, the presentation ...
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Features
Looking beyond the 3Ps
Investment managers will have their work cut out over the next year. If they want to keep abreast of market and regulatory developments they need to make significant changes to the systems and processes that support their businesses. Institutional clients have more expertise than ever before – and they are ...
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Features
The challenges ahead
Setting up occupational pension schemes seems to be the future trend in Greek social security system. Until 2002, Greece was not familiar with the term “occupational pension scheme”, unlike other EU countries where supplementary provision already played a vital role in the social security system. In that context, the institution ...
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Features
Busy doing not very much at all
When highlighting the merits of the profession of active manager, stock picking is often presented as the leading factor in the creation of value. After the downturn in the markets in 2000, benchmarked management was vilified in favour of investment management based on ‘convictions’ where small cap stocks, which had ...
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Features
Greek ambitions for financial centre
Two years since Greece hosted the Olympic Games, the country continues to reap the benefits of the investment boost it received in the lead-up to the event. Foreign investment in the Greek market has risen substantially and the financial authorities are keen to establish the country as a hub for ...
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Features
Liabilities not checked by asset growth
Growth of institutional pension fund assets in the 11 major markets measured in local currencies reached around 17% in 2005 and assets now total $16.4trn (€12.8trn). However, despite this significant growth, up from around 7% in 2004, pension fund liabilities also increased by approximately 9% on average in local currency ...
