All Features articles – Page 354
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Features
Fund managers up in arms
To say that the German government’s tax initiatives have not been well-received is to put it mildly. Just three months after being narrowly re-elected, the German government has managed to slip 22 percentage points behind the opposition in opinion polls following a series of proposed tax reforms. But the German ...
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Features
Using benchmarks with right focus
Pension fund investors are demanding more of their benchmarks in the 21st century. The traditional qualities required of a benchmark index are: that it fairly represents an asset class; and is a measure which fund managers are happy to use in running and monitoring portfolios. However, this is no longer ...
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Features
Cool face of benefits
Education. Education. Education. Well, pensions education to be precise. For New Labour’s renowned election promise is just as applicable in the UK to pensions when it comes to the populous at large. This is the strategy overarching the newly created Pension Service which, as part of the Department of Work ...
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Features
Waiting for the big switch
We implement tactical asset allocation strategy as a total-return overlay that enhances strategic portfolio returns. Short-term asset prices are more influenced by ‘sentiment’ than by ‘fair value’. Our approach is to identify fundamental trends not fully reflected in the market consensus today. This means looking for existing imbalances that need ...
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Features
Why a wake-up call is needed
The perception in the UK that a defined contribution pension (DC) plan is a ‘second best’ occupational pension has grown chiefly because of the low level of employer contributions. Employers contribute significantly less to DC schemes than to defined benefit (DB) schemes. The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) annual ...
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Features
Candidates line up for inspection
In May 2004, eight countries are scheduled to join the enlarged European Union, representing the largest expansion of the union, in terms of scope and diversity, in its history. The countries include the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia. All of the countries have been preparing for ...
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Features
Capital markets
While developed economy stock markets suffered losses, the exchanges in central and eastern Europe have put in an impressive performance. As of late November stock prices in dollar terms had risen by 32% year to date in Hungary and 24% in the Czech Republic. Even Poland, which had seen poor ...
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Features
State Street's carve out
The ‘Big Dig’ is how Bostonians refer to the enormous civil engineering project that runs through their city and has sucked in more dollars than the city probably cares to contemplate. The day of its completion appears to be as problematic as ever. In Franklin Street, not far from this ...
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Features
Towards point of convergence
Asset management in the central and east European (CEE) states has been booming as solid growth leads to more disposable income. The eight CEE states set for EU membership in May 2004 – Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia – are all recording growth higher than ...
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Features
Effects of convergence
One of the effects of EU convergence has been a convergence of the stock markets of eastern and western Europe. CEE stock markets are approaching their western peers in terms of correlation, according to Helmut Pfeffer, stocks analyst at Raiffeissen Zentralbank (RZB) in Vienna. Three CEE stock markets – the ...
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Features
Corporate pension risk in Europe
As we all know, pensions are receiving substantial attention in the wider press, both in financial and non-financial publications. This has been triggered by a combination of factors: equity underperformance has eroded asset values, falling bond yields have driven up liability values and increased accounting transparency has made the resulting ...
