All Features articles – Page 314
-
Features
Spectre of 1994 rides again
Is the ghost of 1994 set to spook the markets 10 years further on? Interest rates are very low, for some bond markets they’ve never been lower, and the last time the Central Banks were in anything like tightening mode is but a distant memory. But 2004 feels different in ...
-
Features
Industriens is poised to take advantage of the upturn
The Copenhagen-based Industriens Pensions has an impeccable background as a labour-market fund. Formed just over a decade ago, in a pioneering joint venture move by DI, the Confederation of Danish Industry on the employer side and by CO, the central grouping of trade unions, it covers employees in 8,500 businesses ...
-
Features
Continuous cycle of advice
The whole point of the pensions consultancy business is to help pension schemes do what they have to do in the best possible way. They are there to provide backing at all levels, from expert advice on arcane investment instruments to performing some of the day-to-day administrative chores a company’s ...
-
Features
Key area of fund focus
Managing risk has shot to the top of the agenda for most pension funds this decade. While some capital erosion was unavoidable in the years of tumbling market values, trustees are demanding that everything be done to see that funds are better prepared the next time stocks take a dive. ...
-
Features
Sectors have arrived
European institutions have little choice but to invest in European equities, be it via a domestic or foreign equity allocation, structured as a euro or pan-European mandate, or the European element of a global mandate. Four years after the birth of the euro, the means by which institutions achieve European ...
-
Features
Self assessment rules OK?
The pensions industry relies heavily on consultants, but increasingly, there are calls for them to quantify what exactly it is that they do, and how they do it. In the UK, some of the major consultancies have responded by publishing analysis of their own results – putting into basis points ...
-
Features
JOP goes back to the drawing board
At the Juristernes & Okonomernes Pension Fund (JØP) the search for alpha is on. The DKr21bn professional fund for lawyers and economists is undergoing an extensive restructuring. A full review is in hand, says Henrik Franck, investment director, who joined the fund from BankInvest last year. “Not only is the ...
-
Features
Getting the best from custodians
Has your custodian ever lost any of your assets? Probably not. Should you worry about such risks? Surely yes. But how much should pension fund directors get involved in custody issues? In fact, there are normally no major problems that would require the attention of pension fund boards. Custody seems ...
-
Features
'Could do better'
For a grouping founded on the principles of peace and harmony, it’s surprising just how much conflict there is between the various constituent parts of the EU. Of course, some conflicts are higher profile than others – witness the fracas over the Stability Pact. But there is other evidence of ...
-
Features
Biting the hand that feeds
IPE’s look at investment managers’ attitudes to consultants makes sobering reading for some consulting giants. When asset managers were asked to name the five firms that impressed them most in order of preference some of the biggest firms barely got a mention, while others failed to be number one with ...
-
Features
Next on the US chopping block?
The investment consulting business in the US is very concentrated, with the leading firms controlling 70% of the market. But this situation is slowly changing, because of the increasing competition coming from new entrants and because of the recent mutual fund scandal’s ripple effects. “The top 20 leading consulting firms ...
-
Features
British miss gravy train
The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) was first introduced to provide pension benefits for Members of Parliament (MPs) in 1965. The PCPF is a funded scheme which invests contributions from the exchequer and members. The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) has come in for considerable criticism, largely on account of ...
-
Features
S&P broadens out
Eudald Canadell, who runs the European index operation for Standard & Poor’s has decided views on many things, including the recent purchase after protracted negotiations of the equity indices business of Citigroup, the former Salomon Smith Barney products. In one swoop, S&P broadened its offering from a being a major ...
-
Features
Where do consultancies see their business growing?
In Portugal, Thomas says quite a sizeable pensions consultancy market is likely to grow in the next few years, as the state’s role in pension provision is reduced and wealth moves from state control to the private sector. The details, however, are still unclear. “There is a lot of uncertainty,” ...
