All Features articles – Page 345
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Features
Putting DC in its place
Iceland has put ‘pure’ DC plans in what it considers to be their place – the third pillar. The government introduced legislation to allow optional personal pensions schemes with individual accounts as part of its Pension Reform Act 1997. The aim was to give further encouragement to private pension provision. ...
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Features
Could TEE be a model for Europe?
Luxembourg only enacted a legal framework for occupational pensions with the law of June 8, 1999. Company pension plans existed long before this law. In the past, companies provided mainly defined benefit (DB) second pillar schemes in book-reserve systems, as in Germany. Book reserve systems were tax-driven: allowances for pension ...
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Features
Time to widen fixed income horizons
Why invest in global bonds? One simple answer would be because they make money in times when it is hard to make money. Government bonds, traditionally the heart of any global bond portfolio, have been one of the few asset classes other than gold and real estate to appreciate in ...
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Features
The fund with an iron grip
The Hoechst Pensionskasse in Frankfurt is not only one of the oldest pension schemes in Germany, but it is also the most influential in shaping both the private and public sectors’ approach to pensions. “Ideas such as a widow’s pension at 60% of the member’s pension, having a qualifying period ...
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Features
Pan-European funds vote welcomed
There was a largely positive reaction to the successful vote in the European Parliament on the Pension Funds Directive from industry groups, with most observers welcoming the decision (page 9). Alan Pickering, the chairman of the European Federation for Retirement Provision, says: “At long last we are in sight of ...
