Funding – Page 166
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News
Irish gov't unveils public pension levy
[15:30 CET 04-02] IRELAND – The Irish government has unveiled plans to cut public spending by €2.1bn, and almost €1.4bn of this will be achieved by requiring public sector workers to pay a new pension 'levy' averaging 7.5% towards their pensions.
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News
Ombudsman may file further Eq Life report
[15:15 CET 04-02] UK – Ann Abrahams, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, is considering whether to submit a follow-up report on Equitable Life detailing why she finds the government response to her report "unsatisfactory", a committee of MPs has been told.
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News
Belgian funds return -20.5% in 2008
[16:40 CET 03-02] BELGIUM – Belgian pension funds suffered a negative return of 20.5% in 2008, the Belgian Association of Pension Institutions (BVPI) has revealed.
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News
Global pension assets drop 18% in 2008
[16:30 CET 03-02] GLOBAL – Economic conditions have resulted in the largest annual decline in global pension fund assets “for many years”, as the total value of pension pots fell 18% in 2008 to $25trn (€19.6trn), according to research from International Financial Services London (IFSL).
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PME campaigns for bespoke recovery approach
[16:25 CET 03-02] NETHERLANDS – Hans van der Windt, director of PME, the €18.7bn pension fund for the metal and electronics sectors, wants the pension regulator to adopt a tailor-made approach that enables pension funds to recover at their individual pace.
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News
Further delay indexation label - PGB fund
[16:15 CET 03-02] NETHERLANDS - Pensioenfonds Grafische Bedrijven (PGB), the €9bn Dutch pension fund for the printing and publishing industry, has hit out against the planned introduction of an indexation label, arguing it promotes short-termism and is not informative enough.
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News
BT takes sipp for new DC scheme
[16:00 CET 03-02] UK – BT, the telecoms giant, has appointed Standard Life to provide a new corporate self-invested personal pension (CSIPP) to replace its existing defined contribution (DC) schemes.
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News
Greencore deficit hits €68m
[16:40 CET 02-02] IRELAND – Greencore, the Irish convenience food manufacturer, has reported the deficit in its defined benefit (DB) pension schemes more than doubled to €68m in 2008.
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News
Finland to set guaranteed pension level from 2011
[16:30 CET 02-02] FINLAND – The Finnish government has announced a guaranteed minimum pension for pensioners will be introduced in 2011.
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News
Cautious DNB examines recovery time
[16:00 CET 02-02] NETHERLANDS - The president of the Dutch central bank and pension regulator will decide before 1 March whether pension funds will be given more time to recover from the credit crisis, though he has stressed in advance he does not favour giving more time to repair their ...
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News
Consumer body rallies against recovery plan delay
[15:45 CET 02-02] NETHERLANDS – Consumentenbond, the large Dutch consumers’ lobbying organisation, has spoken out against calls for a more generous recovery period for underfunded pension funds.
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FeaturesBeware Japanese proverbs
The experience of Japanese pension funds in the 1990s provides an interesting lesson for Western investors, finds David White
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Features
Sovereign funds under pressure
Sovereign pension funds (SPFs) have emerged in recent years as part of governments’ moves to ensure they had enough financing to cover state pension obligations without relying on pay-as-you-go tax schemes. In recent months, however, two of Europe’s largest government schemes - Norway’s Government Pension Fund - Global and the ...
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FeaturesPensions in Obama’s sights
When Barack Obama is inaugurated as president in January 2009, provisions affecting the pension fund industry could well be an important part of his intended new economic stimulus. But this follows little debate about the retirement system during the campaign, except when US employee’s losses in 401(k) individual accounts were ...
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News
VB joins pressure for more recovery time
[16:55 CET 30-01] NETHERLANDS – Gerard Riemen, director of the Dutch association of industry-wide pension funds (VB), has joined several unions and employer representative bodies in their plea to give pension funds more time to recover.
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News
Unite agree Ineos deal as sights turn to Selex
[16:50 CET 30-01] UK – Unite the Union has confirmed the pensions dispute with INEOS over planned changes to the defined benefit (DB) pension scheme is at an end after revised proposals, such as the scheme remaining open to new entrants, were accepted by members.
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News
Zurich to set up new Royal Mail DC scheme
[16:10 CET 30-01] UK – Royal Mail has appointed Zurich to provide a new defined contribution (DC) scheme starting in April 2009.
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News
IBM withholds indexation as BPF Bouw imposes limit
[16:00 CET 30-01] NETHERLANDS - BPF Bouw, the pension fund for the building industry, will only grant its active participants an indexation of their pension claims for 2009 while IBM is holding off from paying it this year.
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News
Funds blame bulk of decline on interest rates
[16:40 CET 29-01] NETHERLANDS – Major pension funds have argued up to two-thirds of the decline in their cover ratios, which now hover between 85% and 100%, was because of the steep drop in interest rates.
