All Features articles – Page 359
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Features
Belgacom takes development to the next stage
Belgacom, the largest pension fund in Belgium, had e3.3bn in pension assets at the end of 2002. Structured as a DB fund for 31,621 employees, it promises its members 75% of final salary with benefits linked to inflation. The benefits covered include social security pensions, a special early retirement programme ...
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Features
For Belgacom governance is key
Belgacom, the largest pension fund in Belgium, is structured as a DB fund for 31,621 employees, it promises its members 75% of final salary with benefits linked to inflation. The benefits covered under the scheme include social security pensions, a special early retirement programme (PTS), disability pension, and, from the ...
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Features
PRO-BTP cornerstone of benefit structure
PRO-BTP is an organisation for the French construction industry, which runs the complementary system of social protection, insurance and pensions for over 3m people who belong to the BTP – ‘batiments et travaux publics’. The organisation was set up in 1993 by the social partners as a paritarian, non-profit making ...
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Features
Diageo keeps benefits flowing
Diageo’s £2.9bn defined benefit scheme comprises eight membership categories: three non-contributory sections (closed since 1988); two main contributory sections (Silver and Gold); and three executive sections (two contributory, one non-contributory). The scheme has a total of 70,700 members and is open to all permanent, temporary or casual employees of the ...
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Features
Boots win highlights shift to risk management issu
The move made by the Boots pension fund in the UK to shed all its equities and to do so before the severe declnes in the market have provoked considerable comment in the market. It is clearly one of the funds, and perhaps the most clearcut example, of the general ...
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Features
Finns cross boundaries
This has been the year when asset liability management reasserted itself in Finland in the light of difficult markets and the need to meet tight solvency regulations. While the investment trends that became apparent at the time of the euro introduction are still evident, the focus has clearly shifted to ...
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Features
BPMT finds the perfect inflation match
BPMT is the Netherlands’ third largest pension fund for the metal industry. In common with other Dutch defined benefit pension funds, the biggest risk it faces is inflation, since its liabilities are index-linked to prices. This impact of inflation on a pension fund can be huge and can be costly. ...
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Features
Novartis shifts from 'bricks and mortar'
The SFr16.8bn (e11.4bn) pension scheme of Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Novartis, holds real estate assets that comprise 12% of the fund’s assets. Earlier this year, it completed a major transition in the approach to its property portfolio, which allowed the fund to maintain its exposure to this asset class, while enabling ...
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Features
Inarcassa builds on strong pillars
Inarcassa is the e2bn pensions and social assistance fund for Italy’s self-employed engineers and architects and has approximately 100,000 members. The fund’s asset allocation strategy is designed to take into account hypothetical situations looking at the long-term risk/return balance and all potential investments. It must also consider risk tolerance, return ...
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Features
Rising tide of cash
What are the reasons why pension funds might hold cash, and how do consultants suggest their pension fund clients manage these holdings? “The starting point would be an ALM study, to find out if cash has a place in the strategic asset allocation,” says Peter Eerdmans, senior analyst at Watson ...
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Features
Centrum PensPlan's seal of quality
Centrum PensPlan is the company set up to develop all the necessary operations for the regional Trentino Alto Adige’s supplementary pensions provision project. It also has a mandate to offer economic support by helping people in temporary financial difficulty make their fund contributions and provide adequate guarantees concerning the retirement ...
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Features
New government faces reform challenge
After its predecessor’s failure to push through a package of pensions reforms, the new government that took power in June will be trying again. The June elections once again returned a centre-left Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD)-dominated government. Unlike its predecessor, a minority administration that relied on the tacit support ...
