All Features articles – Page 247
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Features
Solving Britain's pensions crisis
Not very long ago, Britain’s pension system was the envy of Europe, if not the world. Other European countries faced the prospect of ever higher government spending and budget deficits as their populations aged: their high state pension promises were beginning to look rather reckless. Britain, meanwhile, had funded schemes ...
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Features
Traditional markets bullish
As can be seen from table 1, all hedge fund strategies except for convertible arbitrage posted positive performance in May. Consequently, three out of five strategies now show positive year-to-date returns, as opposed to two in April. Most traditional markets (for example , stocks, bonds, commodities) were bullish in May, ...
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Features
Guarantees - whose business?
IPE asked three pension funds in three countries – in Denmark, Belgium and Germany – the same question: ‘Should pension funds offer a minimum guarantee?’ Here are their answers: Hervé Noël, director of the pension funds of Suez-Tractebel in Belgium which has AUM of e1.33bn “We have had a ...
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Features
Challenging the grey cells
The Pensions Management Institute (PMI) was established almost 30 years ago in the UK with the specific aim of raising standards. Since then the institute has built a strong reputation for providing industry standard qualifications, and its members are recognised throughout the pensions industry as having wide-ranging and practical knowledge ...
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Features
Rising to the challenge
With a relatively young population, higher retirement age and regulations that offer little incentive for early retirement, Iceland faces fewer problems due to ageing than most European countries. However, local pension funds still face many challenges. There is a rising number of disability claims, fund managers must meet targets in ...
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Features
Chemistry of mix and match
ICI’s business philosophy is decentralisation. The company’s worldwide operations, which span some 50 countries, are divided into four business units, each of which is granted a significant degree of autonomy. But there is one important exception. The one area in which the company is pursuing an active policy of centralisation ...
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Features
Shape of things to come
There is no smoke without fire, runs the old saw, and sure enough the long predicted – if oft denied – merger between the Royal Bank of Canada’s Global Services securities services operation and Luxembourg-based Dexia BIL has finally come to pass. First rumoured back in early 2003, the deal ...
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Features
Managing your custodian
IPE has teamed up with Amaces, a UK-based provider of analytical and benchmarking services to pension funds and fund managers, to give readers an insight to performance standards within the securities services industry On a quarterly basis, Amaces will provide IPE with a table of live data drawn from its ...
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Features
PBGC reaches defining moment
More urgent than fixing social security, is preventing the bankruptcy of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp (PBGC). The US Congress thinks so and is willing to discuss new legislation - the pension protection act (PPA) - to avoid a public bailout of private pension funds that could dwarf the $200bn ...
