Funding – Page 165
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News
Mercer warns of 'less transparency' under new accounting
[11:00 CET 11-02] NETHERLANDS - Replacing the present accounting rules for unlisted Dutch companies, as proposed, could lead to a decrease in transparency, a partner at Mercer Consultants has suggested.
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News
Jobs go as AP1 alters asset management model
[10:45 CET 11-02] SWEDEN – Första AP-fonden (AP1), the first Swedish national pension Fund, is making 20 people redundant and changing its asset management model, in response to the credit crunch, to focus on strategic asset allocation.
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VER may take 10% of local commercial paper
[16:30 CET 10-02] FINLAND – Valtion Eläkerahasto (VER), the state pension fund, has increased its allocation to commercial paper markets by €100m in February, although government plans to use it to help boost the economy could see it taking a 10% share of the market.
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Member sentiment ups ING Emeklilik's bond exposure
TURKEY – The €169m ING Emeklilik pension insurance company has increased its exposure to fixed income, prompted by prevailing market sentiment among its customers.
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Swiss Pensionskassen are 'stable' – ASIP
[16:50 CET 09-02] SWITZERLAND – ASIP, the pension fund association, has claimed Swiss Pensionskassen system are “weathering the storm” of the market, just as the Social Democrats suggest measures to keep it that way.
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Complexity and costs have 'killed' DB
[15:15 CET 09-02] UK – An increase in “well-meaning” legislation has effectively ‘killed off’ defined benefit (DB) schemes through rising complexity and costs, experts have warned.
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News
Choppy waters improve January deficits
[15:00 CET 09-02] UK – The UK’s private sector final salary pension schemes saw a slight improvement in January as deficits reduced a fraction, according to calculations made by the Pension Protection Fund.
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Irish public sector workers plan action over levy
[16:45 CET 16:45] IRELAND – Irish public sector trade unions have warned they are “not ruling anything out” in reaction to government plans to introduce an average public service pension levy of 7.5% on €50,000 earnings.
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News
Cantons reject mandatory full funding
[16:40 CET 06-02] SWITZERLAND – Swiss cantons officials have rejected government proposals to pass a law which would oblige all public funds to become fully-funded over the next 40 years, just as funding levels are falling further.
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News
Equity losses reduce AP2 by €5.2bn
[16:15 CET 06-02] SWEDEN – Andra AP-fonden (AP2), the Second Swedish National Pension Fund has reported a loss of -24%, or SEK55.1bn (€5.2bn), on its net assets in 2008.
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News
Pension funds seek fresh delay to indexation label
[16:10 CET 06-02] NETHERLANDS - VB and OPF, the main lobbying organisations for the Dutch pension funds, have called for a further delay to the introduction of the indexation label, as officials say the financial situation is still too unclear to be able to deliver sound forecasts.
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News
Interest rate hedge limits TNO’s loss
[15:50 CET 06-02] NETHERLANDS - The TNO pension fund’s investments yielded a negative return of almost 5% in 2008, despite adopting a high interest rate hedge.
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News
ATP hedging avoids draw on reserves
[17:15 CET 05-02] DENMARK – ATP Group, Denmark’s largest pension fund provider, suffered a loss of DKK 25.7bn (€3.4bn) in 2008, though the firm's hedging strategy prevented a need to draw on reserves in what it was described as a "challenging year".
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News
Gov't claims auto-enrolment will benefit 95%
[17:05 CET 05-02] UK – Auto-enrolment will benefit more than 95% of people in relation to retirement saving despite means-testing, and the “large majority” expected to get double what they contribute, the government has claimed.
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Irish managed funds drop 1.9% in January
[16:55 CET 05-02] IRELAND – Irish group pension managed funds fell an average of 1.9% in January continuing the downward trend that led to a 34.8% loss in 2008, according to figures from Rubicon Investment Consulting.
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News
Bonds save severance funds falls
[16:50 CET 05-02] AUSTRIA – Mandatory severance pay funds posted a negative return of -1.8% for 2008, which could have been worse had it not been for their large bond exposure.
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News
Akzo Nobel scheme loses a fifth
[16:40 CET 05-02] NETHERLANDS - The €3.6bn Dutch pension fund of paints giant Akzo Nobel returned –20.6% on its investments in 2008, as its equity allocation plummeted in value by 42%.
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News
Public sector 'to cost taxpayers £335bn'
[16:55 CET 04-02] UK – The Institute of Directors (IoD) has suggested public sector workers should be switched to defined contribution (DC) pension arrangements as public sector pensions as funding shortfalls could cost taxpayers £335bn (€371bn) in employer controbutions over the next 50 years.
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News
State pension hit worst – German poll
[16:00 CET 04-02] GERMANY – Almost half of people interviewed in a recent poll think the current financial crisis will weaken the state pension system but only 12% fear a negative influence on occupational pensions.
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Pensions Board updates DB funding standard rules
[15:45 CET 04-02] IRELAND – The Irish Pensions Board has issued revised guidelines for pension schemes wanting to extend recovery periods for scheme funding past 10 years.
