All Features articles – Page 205
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Features
What pension funds are looking for
Most people in our industry recognise that while pension schemes have become more demanding of investment strategies and implementation, most schemes remain in deficit and are becoming more mature. Accounting rules mean these deficits are much more visible with the result that pension provision has become a topic for national ...
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Features
Global FX trading surges
Pension fund and asset manager activity in the global foreign exchange market grew 48% last year, according to consulting firm Greenwich Associates. “Average foreign exchange trading volumes among fund managers and pension funds increased almost 48% from 2004 to 2005,” the firm pointed out. “As a result of this growth, ...
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Features
UK pension industry split on national scheme
The UK’s pension industry appears split over the government’s proposed national pensions savings schemes. Investment providers have welcomed the idea but consulting firms have warned of higher costs and unintended consequences. The government White Paper, following up on the Pensions Commission proposals, said it would introduce a new low cost ...
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Features
Why scheme members are key
Peter Scales is retiring as chief executive of the £3.5bn (€5bn) London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) and will leave the post at the end of the year. George Coats asks the questions What was your first full-time job – do you remember what you were paid at the time? ...
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Features
Leading soundbites
Q1Are we moving out of a low interest rate environment? If so, do investors go from here? Q2In your view why are mega mergers such as Citigroup/Legg Mason and Merrill Lynch/BlackRock, happening and are there more to come? Q3The involvement of investment banks in pensions investment has been ...
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Features
No longer a mirage?
It is safe to say that the single European market for asset managers is moving ever closer due to developments in the last year. A real single market in asset management is something for which the Investment Management Association’s (IMA) has been actively calling for more than three years. As ...
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Features
Where size matters
The EU pensions directive is focusing the minds of Belgian pension funds. But it is not the implementation of the directive that is causing the major concern but a series of proposed changes that accompany it. The directive should have been introduced last September but legislation transposing its provisions into ...
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Features
Using overlay strategies
In May, The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead tendered a E599m currency overlay mandate for the £1.3bn (E1.9bn) Berkshire Pension Fund. It is one of a string of pension funds who are looking at diversifying risk through currency overlay. Other recent funds include Strathclyde, which hired Mellon Capital Management, ...
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Features
Quenching the thirst
For many years Cyprus was a rather inaccessible economy. Artificially high interest rates and restrictions on the movement of capital did not inspire much thought or creativity, to put it mildly. And as the island’s abundant sunshine contrasted starkly with its reputation for shady dealings, money laundering being the primary ...
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Features
On the added value of fixed income tactical asset allocation
Why would one pursue an active allocation investment policy within a fixed income portfolio? The overall risk of the fixed income portfolio is low compared to the other traditional asset classes. Even the most risky fixed income asset classes like Emerging Markets and High Yield have a volatility which is ...
