All Features articles – Page 348
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Features
Closing the pensions gap
Defined contribution plans have historically played a small part in the Germany’s occupational pension system. So the reform of the system engineered by former labour minister Walter Riester raised hopes among some companies that Germany might see the introduction of a DC plan design along Anglo-Saxon lines – the German ...
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Features
Why outperformance will continue
For many institutional investors, an Asset Liability Management (ALM) analysis forms the basis of their strategic investment policy. The investment policy is aimed at matching the growth in value of future assets relative to the growth of future liabilities. In that respect there are two important criteria: (a) the average ...
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Features
Is Switzerland in crisis?
Switzerland has been teetering on the brink of a so called ‘pensions crisis’ for several months. When the government lowered the minimum guaranteed interest rate paid on occupational pension schemes from 4% to 3.25%, one sensed that all was not well with Switzerland’s second pillar system. With an increasing number ...
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Features
Custodians eye the front office
Portfolio management is a task most often associated with the front office, although this relationship is not exclusive. Certain elements of portfolio management, in particular accounting and administration, have long been the domain of the back office. Today, more so than ever before, the custodian’s role is gradually encroaching on ...
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Features
Directive: failure is not an option
It’s hardly Watergate perhaps, but conspiracy theorists may be intrigued by two high-profile pensions events in Brussels recently. It is of course possible that the two events are entirely unconnected, yet as one pensions official remarked: “The timing was excellent.” For those who believe in coincidence, the first event was ...
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Features
Europe trails in US footsteps
We must all hang together or, most assuredly, we will all hang separately. This is the current message from the Euro-zone equity markets, rattled by fears of a war in Iraq and its consequences for the US economy. The high degree of correlation between the European and US markets means ...
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Features
EVCA launches 'good practice' for investor relations
“The success of any private equity and venture capital initiative depends on the establishment of a good relationship between the investors in the initiative and those establishing and managing it.” So opens the summary to the EVCA draft consultation paper on private equity good practice launched this month. The paper ...
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Features
Every little helps
In a period of low or no returns, ideas for cost-cutting can look as attractive as any investment strategy to hard-pressed pension fund managers. So in this month’s Off the Record we ask managers how they think companies and other organisations can control the costs of their pension plans. The ...
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Features
Where France takes the lead
The reform of the French pension fund market will be good for custodians, says Bernard Blaud, head of sales and relationship management for international investor services, France, at BNP Paribas Securities Services. “Pension funds will require a range of services, including daily net asset value calculations and compliance monitoring.” Bruno ...
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Features
JPMIS's German surge
Global custodian JP Morgan Investor Services (JPMIS) says it had a bumper year in the German marketplace in 2002. Assets for which it acts as depot bank and custodian doubled to $40bn (E37bn) during the year, with total client assets under custody increasing to $80bn. Arnulf Manhold, business executive, JPMIS, ...
