All Features articles – Page 614
-
Features
USA: Looking to the long term come what may
If you were a US pension manager faced with the rise and rise of the US market, what would your domestic equity strategy be? Three plan sponsors have come up with responses that are surprisingly uniform despite their contrasting styles. The giant $105bn CALPERS has 80% of its $43bn US ...
-
Features
Index management: a high value service or commodity?
In the US pension arena, index management has been a major factor since the early seventies and, following a typical product life cycle, has reached maturity: 1) fees have come down to a few basis points, 2) competition has been crowded out to a handful of players sharing more than ...
-
Features
Communicating through cultural differences
Europe, we are assured, is a family of nations. Yet in spite of the best endeavours of those such as Esperantists, it remains a family where there is still no single, truly universal, language. Inevitably, there are times when communication difficulties arise. Most companies of any reasonable size have a ...
-
Features
International competition puts focus on pension costs
Global competition made maximising long-term investment returns on pensions assets a key priority for multinational employers, according to Gert van Bezooyen, head of corporate pensions at Philips International in Eindhoven. “Excellent performance is what we are looking for as we approach the 21st century, taking into account the global competitive ...
-
Features
Using nervous system to make connections
Klaus Ragotzky reports on neural networks, used by Bayerische Landesbank to forecast future government bond yields
-
Features
Hewlett Packard grasps the nettle of DC plans Europe-wide
Michel Henneaux explains the thinking behind the radical moves in the group’s pension scheme design
-
Features
Drive to devise packages for funds
British investment banks and real estate agencies are using all their ingenuity to design property packages that appeal to pension fund tastes. They are having some success, not least with pension funds from elsewhere in Europe. Why does real estate need packaging? On the face of it, commercial property should ...
-
Features
UK: Discounting the election
The general election’s impact on the markets will be limited but, according to UK analysts, it will mark a dividing line for activity in both the bond and equity markets. Whoever wins will inherit a relatively benign economic picture. At Commerzbank in London, treasurer and deputy general manager Jean-Michael D’Oultremont ...
-
Features
Horlick divides MGAM funds' trustees
The Horlick Affair has clearly shaken the confidence of pension funds in Morgen Grenfell Asset Management but, as an IPE survey reveals, funds’ attitudes vary, although at least four funds are considering their position. However, only one of the 11 schemes we spoke to had actually dropped MGAM as their ...
-
Features
Moderate expectations and a tilt to equities
In ABN AMRO’s asset allocation for the first quarter, we overweight equities and underweight bonds and cash. For 1997, we expect, on average, economic growth to be moderate, while inflation will remain at a relatively low level. This outlook is not only justified by the most recent cyclical indicators but ...
-
Features
EU pensions paper on way
The long-awaited EU green paper on pensions will hold few surprises. Obvious issues such as barriers to free movement of labour and limited common laws for prudence and retirement provision around Europe will be covered, according to industry predictions. The paper, due for publication in the next two months will, ...
-
Features
Feeling the heat
British pension fund managers themselves say they are shying away from the UK stock market as the year begins, amid worries that equities are overvalued. The economy may overheat around general election time, raising concerns about inflation which could in turn lead to a burst of monetary tightening later on, ...
-
Features
Germany: The Frankfurt market
The Frankfurt stock market is represented by the holding company Deutsche Börse AG. It has 250 members and over 75% of German market share and is responsible for the settlement of all exchange transactions in securities and futures in Germany. It operates the only German futures exchange, the Deutsche Terminbörse ...
-
Features
French pensions may go retail
A bill to reform company pensions in France could unintentionally create a retail pensions market. The market value of the scheme - currently predicted at anywhere between Ffr10 and 50 billion, which according to one analyst means “nobody knows” - could greatly increase as a result. This will depend on ...
-
Features
Painting the full performance picture
Systematic performance analysis of mutual funds is a must. Generally, performance is expressed relative to certain benchmarks” which may give a clearer view of management abilities, but the whole picture is incomplete if the dimension of investment risk is ignored. Here the widely-used concept of “volatility” has to be reviewed, ...
-
Features
In the relationship game
Employers are more concerned with being able to work with consultants than with the cost, writes John Lappin
-
Features
Managers get rises
In a recent report Greenwich Associates, assessing the rarely examined area of compensation, shows most compensation rising significantly, but with a relative fall in the position of funds from American owned subsidiaries. The population for this survey was 354 of the largest tax exempt funds in the UK, representing 73% ...
-
Features
Setting a global standard
Thirteen European countries, expanding from a core group of eight, are participating in a project to produce European and global standards for investment performance measurement. The momentum for establishing recognised standards come from different bodies depending on the country, according to Dugald Eadie, chairman of the European Federation of Financial ...
-
Features
UK: Prospect of steady growth
The minimum funding requirement (MFR) will have little impact on the investment strategy of the £1.5bn ($2.4bn) Philips UK Pension Fund as the fund carried out an asset liability study in 1993. It has since moved from a minimal position in index-linked gilts to a current holding of over £400mn ...
-
Features
USA: Native speakers hushed
The US equity market has been experiencing a long-term bull run. One result has been a significant move into index-tracking funds. It is important to evaluate the US fund groups as managers of domestic and international equities. This analysis takes a deliberately skewed look at the markets, from the perspective ...
