Investor Strategy – Page 206
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Sainsbury’s scheme doubles hedge fund allocation
UK - The £3bn (€4.4bn) pension fund of retailer J Sainsbury has doubled its exposure to funds of hedge funds - investing new money and resources diverted from passively managed UK equities.
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Dutch consultant Strategeon hires ex-ING exec
NETHERLANDS – Strategeon, the consulting firm run by former Watson Wyatt Dutch investment head Paul van Aalst, has hired a former ING Investment Management marketing executive.
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Pension fund buys Shell power venture
GLOBAL – A Canadian pension fund and a private equity arm of US insurer AIG have teamed up to buy InterGen, a power generating joint venture of Shell and Bechtel, for US$1.75bn (€1.3bn).
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Clients put $10bn into currency overlay - Mercer
GLOBAL - Mercer Investment Consulting says its clients put $10bn (€7.7bn) into currency overlay mandates in 2004.
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Austria’s NÖVK scheme taps GES for SRI
AUSTRIA - Niederösterreichische Vorsorgekasse, a two-year-old Austrian pension fund serving 100,000 employees, has hired GES Investment Services for socially responsible investment consulting.
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Wellington raises stake in outsourcer Capita
UK – Asset management firm Wellington Management Co. has increased its stake in Capita Group, which provides pension outsourcing to companies such as utilities firm RWE and supermarket group Safeway.
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Hymans Robertson names seven new partners
UK – Consulting actuaries Hymans Robertson has named seven new partners, bring the total number of partners to 27.
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OECD sees no evidence of longevity deceleration
GLOBAL – The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says the increase in longevity seems to be a permanent effect.
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Greenwich: foreign exchange becoming asset class
GLOBAL – With volumes up almost 25% last year, foreign exchange is evolving into a separate asset class for “real money” investors, says Greenwich Associates.
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ABN Amro’s Alfred Berg becomes Societas Europaea
SWEDEN – ABN Amro’s Scandinavian investment group Alfred Berg is to simplify its legal structure by creating a so-called European company, or Societas Europaea.
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Sweden’s Telia scheme shifts assets to SRI fund
SWEDEN – The Swedish pension scheme of Nordic telecoms firm TeliaSonera has shifted $140m (€108.7m) of assets into a socially responsible investing screened fund from State Street Global Advisors.
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Six Dutch members’ councils unite
NETHERLANDS - The member councils of six large Dutch pension funds have united in a new national platform, which represents more than 2.5 million employees and pensioners.
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Watson Wyatt boosts DC consulting
UK - Watson Wyatt has boosted its defined contribution consulting effort in the UK with the launch of a framework called Investment Gateway.
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Janus names global head of consultant relations
GLOBAL – Janus Capital Group has named former Morgan Stanley executive Carolyn Patton as director of global client relations, a new role.
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Dutch central bank to merge DNB and PVK schemes
NETHERLANDS - Finance minister Gerrit Zalm has told parliament in a letter that the two pension funds of the central bank will be merged and detached from the sponsor.
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VB chairman van Popta sees no pension crisis
NETHERLANDS – Benne van Popta, co-chairman of the Dutch Association of Industry-wide Pension Funds, the VB, has said there is no crisis in the pension sector.
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Swiss schemes ‘invest more in alternatives’
SWITZERLAND – Swiss institutional investors have invested more in alternative asset classes and real estate in 2004 - but their asset allocation “remains prudent” a survey sponsored by Credit Suisse Asset Management suggests.
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PWC pensions partner Shuttleworth dies
UK – John Shuttleworth, a trenchant commentator on the pensions scene in the UK for PricewaterhouseCoopers, has died suddenly aged 47.
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PME ends possibility of taking VUT before age 60
NETHERLANDS - One of the largest Dutch pension funds, the €16bn PME, has stated that it has been forced to end immediately the possibility of taking VUT or TOP before 60.
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‘Over 75 UK schemes’ allocate to hedge funds
UK – More than 75 UK pension funds have made allocations to hedge funds, according to a report from Morgan Stanley.
