Investor Strategy – Page 151

  • News

    Fund managers lighten up on economy

    2009-02-19T16:10:00Z

    [17:10 19-02] GLOBAL – Investors are at their most hopeful about the year ahead since the credit crunch took hold in July 2007, according to the latest fund manager survey by asset manager Merrill Lynch.

  • News

    Research supports call for flexible payout phase

    2009-02-19T15:30:00Z

    [16:30 CET 19-02] EUROPE – Academic research suggests European pensions policy could give pensioners increased potential retirement income and flexibility in the long-term by allowing pension pots to be diversified beyond mandatory annuities across the life of the payout phase.

  • News

    Kingston awards JP Morgan custody contract

    2009-02-18T15:03:00Z

    [16:05 CET 18-02] UK – The Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames has reappointed JP Morgan as the global custodian to its £323m (€365m) local authority pension fund.

  • Funds review diversification and management
    News

    Funds review diversification and management

    2009-02-16T16:00:00Z

    [17:00 CET 16-02] GLOBAL – Opinion polls suggest pension fund managers globally are questioning the use of diversification, just as funds are re-evaluating their investment management policy.

  • Barnet appoints actuary
    News

    Barnet appoints actuary

    2009-02-16T11:00:00Z

    [12:00 CET 16-02] UK – The London Borough of Barnet has appointed Barnett Waddingham as actuarial services provider to its £511.4m (€578.4m) local authority scheme.

  • News

    Trade bodies warn against hard-hitting measures

    2009-02-16T10:00:00Z

    [11:00 CET 16-02] NETHERLANDS - Dutch pension funds’ lobbying organisations have warned they will oppose any recovery measures that are could hit schemes’ participants hard, as long as it is not clear whether the consequences of the credit crunch will be lasting.

  • Tower Hamlets offers bond portfolio after restructure
    News

    Tower Hamlets offers bond portfolio after restructure

    2009-02-13T15:10:00Z

    [16:10 CET 13-02] UK – The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is tendering for an active bond manager for its £530m (€589.7m) pension fund, following a restructuring of its bond allocation, while Middlesbrough Borough Council is seeking actuarial advice.

  • News

    OECD calls for pension expansion despite $5.4trn loss

    2009-02-12T15:55:00Z

    [16:55 CET 12-02] GLOBAL – Private pensions across the world lost $5.4trn between January and December 2008, up from $5trn in October 2008, driven mainly by returns on US pension funds, according to figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

  • News

    Oxford appoints IFA and passive equity manager

    2009-02-12T13:15:00Z

    [14:15 CET 12-02] UK – Oxfordshire County Council has appointed Peter Davies as the independent financial adviser to its £913m (€1.04bn) local authority pension fund and awarded Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) a 10-year specialist passive equity mandate.

  • News

    Iceland to allow 'temporary' access to 3rd pillar savings

    2009-02-11T13:30:00Z

    [14:30 CET 11-02] ICELAND – The Icelandic government plans to introduce legislation allowing holders of individual pension accounts to access their savings early to meet “dire financial difficulties”.

  • News

    Pension funds back private equity move into RI

    2009-02-10T15:40:00Z

    [15:40 CET 13-02] GLOBAL – The £28bn (€32bn) Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) is one of a number of pension funds to support the introduction of guidelines for responsible investment (RI) by private equity firms.

  • News

    Actively-managed assets underperformed - Hewitt

    2009-02-10T15:15:00Z

    [16:15 CET 10-02] NETHERLANDS - Most actively-managed assets underperformed last year because of the additional costs charged over passive strategies, Hewitt Associates has suggested.

  • News

    Siemens fund taps into sponsor's venture capital FoF

    2009-02-10T14:15:00Z

    [15:15 CET 10-02] GERMANY – The German pension fund of Siemens AG, Europe's largest engineering company, and two insurers will provide the first $100m (€78m) for the company’s first venture capital fund of funds.

  • News

    IPE winner delivers positive return

    2009-02-10T11:00:00Z

    [12:00 CET 10-02] NETHERLANDS - De Eendragt Pensioenfond, the pension fund-turned insurance company and winner of the highest accolade at last year’s IPE Awards, has bucked the current trend in Dutch pensions investment by delivering a 4.4% positive return in 2008.

  • News

    DB sponsors fear scheme impact

    2009-02-09T15:55:00Z

    [16:55 CET 09-02] UK – Research suggests nine out of 10 companies with a defined benefit (DB) pension fund are worried about the impact their scheme will have on the business.

  • News

    Co-operative could provide pensions solace – Santing

    2009-02-09T15:35:00Z

    [16:35 CET 09-02] NETHERLANDS – Dutch pension funds should join forces as co-operatives to prevent being forced further into short-term thinking, according to Gerald Santing, former director of the Netherlands Authority of the Financial Markets (AFM).

  • News

    Measure to show the shape of corporate pensions

    2009-02-04T16:20:00Z

    [17:20 CET 04-02] UK – Consulting firm Hymans Robertson has unveiled what it hopes will become a recognised ‘safe’ method for assessing pensions risk to a company’s financial status.

  • News

    Pensions Board updates DB funding standard rules

    2009-02-04T14:45:00Z

    [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.

  • News

    Global pension assets drop 18% in 2008

    2009-02-03T15:30:00Z

    [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).

  • News

    Pension funds expect hedge fund losses

    2009-02-03T13:00:00Z

    [14:00 CET 03-02] EUROPE - Almost three quarters of surveyed pension funds expect to see a negative net-of-fee performance of more than 5% on their hedge fund investments for 2008, suggests IPE research.