Investor Strategy – Page 198
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Call for German schemes to adopt governance code
GERMANY – Professor Wolfgang Gerke, a financial expert who recently unveiled a corporate governance code for asset managers, has called for the code to be embraced by German pension funds.
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Danes launch €70m public-private SRI fund
DENMARK - Nine Danish pension funds are to invest some €63m in non-listed companies in less developed countries in a public-private initiative under which the Danish government will share many of the preparatory costs.
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Aberdeen AM distributor eyes Libya
EUROPE – A joint venture partner of Aberdeen Asset Management is in dealings with the Gaddafi regime in Libya, it has emerged.
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PIMCO says it wins Irish mandates
IRELAND – Fixed income manager PIMCO Europe says it has been awarded two mandates – one worth €60m – from the Unilever Superannuation Fund and the Allianz Group Pension Scheme.
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Schering puts extra €450m into external fund
GERMANY – Pharmaceuticals company Schering has removed another €450m in pension liabilities from its balance sheet so that they can be financed by its contractural trust arrangement (CTA).
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Singer & Friedlander CEO Shearer exits
UK – Tony Shearer is to leave as chief executive of Singer & Friedlander following the acquisition of the firm by Iceland’s Kaupthing.
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Vanguard loses out in Belgian court battle
BELGIUM – A Belgian court has ordered Vanguard, the $850bn (€710bn) mutual fund company, to pick up a damages tab worth almost €400,000 following defeat by former European marketing assistant director Henk Beets.
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Troubled Alliance Capital gets NPRF boost
IRELAND – The National Pensions Reserve Fund has made its first move into emerging markets equities with a €142m investment via Alliance Capital Management, which has been under scrutiny from US regulators.
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MLIM hires Aegon UK credit head
UK – Merrill Lynch Investment Managers has appointed former Aegon Asset Management UK credit head, Daniel McKernan, as sterling credit fund manager.
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AMF names new bond head
SWEDEN – Bengt Björkén has been named head of bond management at AMF Pension.
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Ex-Mercer partner appointed Hewitt consultant
UK – Hewitt Associates has hired former Mercer HRC European partner Jonathan Gainsford as consultant at the group’s UK retirement business practice.
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Icelandic pension fund consolidation continues
ICELAND - Two regional Icelandic pension funds are close to finalising a €500m merger agreement.
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Swedish schemes to restructure amid directive
SWEDEN - Top Swedish pension funds are set to re-structure their entire portfolios in the wake of the introduction of mark-to-market valuation of liabilities as part of the pensions directive.
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New Dutch postal fund to be set up
NETHERLANDS - Dutch postal operator TNT is to set up a new career-average pension fund for around 20,000 post deliverers.
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Watson Wyatt seeking manager researchers
UK – Consulting firm Watson Wyatt has advertised job vacancies for manager researchers, based in Reigate or London.
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Commission set to present portability directive
EUROPE – The European Commission is set to approve a delayed occupational pensions portability directive on October 20 - yet the document has already drawn fire from Germany’s occupational pensions lobby Aba.
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Watson Wyatt makes three Dutch hires
NETHERLANDS – Watson Wyatt has hired three new staff for its “rapidly expanding” investment consulting team in the Netherlands.
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Consultants give good advice - researcher
UK – Pension consultants generally give trustees good advice, says the head of a new firm which tracks the effectiveness of advice.
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APK takes over BMW pension fund in Austria
AUSTRIA – APK, a €2bn pension fund open to all industries in Austria, is to take over administration of the Austrian pension fund of German carmaker BMW from January 2006.
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European pension funds sue News Corp.
GLOBAL – Major European pension institutions such as ABP, USS and Hermes are among a group of institutional investors which have launched a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. over a poison pill arrangement.
