All Features articles – Page 607
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Features
Multinationals outline benefits plans
Akzo Nobel, the chemicals multinational, plans to set up a common investment fund for its European pensions arrangements. Discussing the company’s plans Bert Kiffen, co-ordinator international pensions affairs, said: It is our view that with a single currency, one investment fund will be possible.” The scheme is still at the ...
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Features
Flexible benefits 'sweetener'
Giving mobile employees appropriate salaries as they move from country to country rarely poses a problem for an employer.The provision of benefits - especially those such as pensions - can be far more difficult. Local laws often make it impossible for the employee to remain in the home country” pension ...
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Features
BGSS boost for Morgan Stanley
US custodian bank Morgan Stanley has strengthened its hand in Europe with its acquisition of the global custody business of Barclays Global Securities Services (BGSS). Morgan Stanley netted $250bn of BGSS assets which brings its global franchise to some $390bn.Morgan’s European chairman Sir David Walker says the US bank’s European ...
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Features
BT's defensive strategy
We continue to see an extended cycle of moderate world growth and low inflation. The global economy is out of sync: the US is leading the growth cycle and Japan, Europe and Asia are lagging. We expect the US to slow in response to tightening monetary conditions in 1998 but ...
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Features
Prime's candidates
In the first quarter, we began a gradual reduction of our position in equities and an increase in the share of bonds. We are now underweighted in equities and overweighted in bonds as compared to international benchmarks. The reasons for this follow.We are underweighted in the US. We think the ...
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Features
Colossus of public pension finances
French giant CDC looks after the retirement arrangements of over 5m public sector workers. Fennell Betson meets the man in charge
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Features
Comment: MSS stays in the leadership race
Another European player aims to ensure that US banks do not dominate the custody stakes, writes Bob Crew
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Features
Europe: Finding common ground
Common trust funds (CTFs) are being used more and more by multinationals operating in Europe who want to bring their pensions assets together in one vehicle. They are offered mainly by US banks and often go by the name of ‘bank common trust funds’. State Street in the US is ...
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Features
The costs of regulation
Danish pensions funds are overburdened with regulations, and could perform better if they had more freedom to make their own investment decisions, says Peter Dencik, managing director of Singer & Friedlander International Asset Management.Dencik, who used to be deputy executive director of the pension fund administration company PKA in Denmark, ...
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Features
German firms lag on costs
German companies may be handicapped in labour competitiveness because of pensions costs, according to figures from international consultants.Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting has produced a country-by-country comparison of the average return companies obtain from pension investments (see figure 1), which gives German companies and German-based subsidiaries the most to worry about.Mark ...
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Features
No free lunch from credit spread
In recent months it has become popular to equate monetary union and the introduction of a credit term in government bond yields with a bottom-up” approach to fixed income fund management. This is, at best, rather naive.It is true that the independence of the European Central Bank and the mutual ...
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Features
Danish funds outgrow home market
Denmark’s pensions funds are growing so fast that they are keener than ever to look outside their own stock market for investment opportunities. But strict investment regulations keep them largely hemmed inside national borders.In 1995, Danish pension assets were estimated at around Dkr750bn ($115bn). By now, that is thought to ...
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Features
DB or DC: the debate
Supporters of defined benefit put up a spirited defence of their system against the advocates of defined contribution during a debate at the Asinta network’s annual conference in Rome last month.Roy Cecil, director of human resources Europe, Beckman Instruments, accused proponents of DC of cowardice and gross violations of human ...
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Features
Dipping into Europe's pools
The treatment meted out to Europe’s pensions investors wanting to go the pooled fund route varies considerably from country to country. Some provide substantial tax reliefs, while others offer no such in-ducements. European employers operating cross border can take advantage of these for their local subsidiaries, but generally no advantage ...
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Features
Domicile: Home is where the fund is
The choice of fund domicile is becoming an increasingly live issue for both investors and managers. Rachel Oliver checks out four of the leading centres
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Features
Europe eyes the Dutch market model
The successful restructuring of the Dutch economy is attracting the attention of other European countries seeking to strengthen their international competitiveness, reports John LappinThe Dutch economy is the subject of media scrutiny in continental Europe as countries look for a blueprint for increased competitiveness. Economic success, reflected in recent stock ...
