All Features articles – Page 329
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Features
Unleash your investment manager
There has been much criticism of the way investment benchmarks are used by institutional investors, such as pension funds. Many commentators have argued that the ‘tech boom’ was exacerbated by institutional investors piling into technology stocks simply because they were in the index. Many investment managers have complained that risk ...
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Features
Sticking to your last
David Testa sits square in his chair as chief investment officer at T Rowe Price in Baltimore. His chair may swivel, Testa doesn’t. He’s seen most of it before and he ain’t for turning. That’s not surprising since he has been with the firm since he was hired as an ...
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Features
Living a life of their own
First, an uncomfortable truth. Few European pension funds are likely to have much room in their portfolios for US small caps, defined as US companies with a market capitalisation of between $200m (E178m) and $1bn. The average asset allocation to all US equities by European institutional investors is around 20%. ...
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Features
Making a smooth transition to a new pension market
The Riester reforms continue to dominate the German pensions landscape and the Heidelberg-based German occupational pension fund association, Arbeitsgemeinschaft fuer Betriebliche Altersversorgung (ABA), says its main role now is to ensure a continued smooth transition to the new market, good communication and education of pension fund members and to get ...
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Features
Mid-Atlantic mindset
With the UK’s benchmark index, the FTSE 100, hitting highs not seen for a year what about the company behind the index, London-based FTSE Group? The company was formed in 1995 and is a joint venture between the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange. The company’s chief executive is ...
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Features
Using the P/E test
The number of investors questioning the sustainability of the stock rally over the past months is increasing. European stocks have gained nearly 40% since their low in mid-March and nearly 13% year-to-date. While the overall sentiment seems to remain positive due to improving macroeconomic news, especially in the US, investors ...
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Features
Questions of perspective
This month’s Off The Record considers two topics instead of the usual one. The first topic is the intention of some European governments to raise the statutory retirement age. In Germany the Rürup Commission has recommended raising the retirement age from 65 to 67, and there are similar proposals in ...
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Features
Pragmatic solutions
Companies in Luxembourg have, until recently, had little incentive to introduce supplementary pensions for their employees. The Grand Duchy has one the most generous state pensions in Europe, promising between 60% and 70% of final salary after 40 years’ contributions. This has meant that occupational pension plans in Luxembourg have ...
