Investor Strategy – Page 251
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VGZ picks GSAM for e1bn fiduciary role
NETHERLANDS- Zorgverzekeraar VGZ, one of the largest specialised health insurers in the Netherlands, has appointed Goldman Sachs Asset Management as fiduciary manager for its entire investment portfolio worth almost e1bn. VGZ remains responsible for dictating the strategic investment policy but as fiduciary manager, Goldman Sachs will look after asset ...
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Avon drops MLIM and Gartmore for underperformance
UK – The £1.5bn (€2.4bn) Avon Pension Fund has dropped Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) and Gartmore from mandates worth almost £1bn (€1.6bn) for failing to achieve performance targets since they were appointed in 1997.
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Second pillar to grow five-fold by 2020
EUROPE – Europe’s second pillar pensions market will grow from its current level of €3.5trn to €17trn by 2020, at the expense of the first pillar market, amid inevitable structural change and with dramatic implications for European capital markets, says Commerzbank.
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FIA selects Morley for $100m global equity mandate
UK – The FIA Foundation for the Automobile & Society (FIA), a UK registered charity dealing with road safety and environmental issues, has awarded a $100m (€114.4m) global equity mandate to Morley Fund Management, the London-based independent asset manager.
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Beaver and Edmans join Opra board
UK – The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra) has appointed Wendy Beaver and Laurie Edmans as members of its board with effect from April for one year, replacing John Bowman and Sue Ward whose one-year term of office has expired.
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Robeco to acquire Transtrend in alternatives push
NETHERLANDS – Rotterdam-based asset management group Robeco is to acquire Transtrend, a hedge fund manager and futures trading company, as part of its strategy to expand into the alternative investment market, particularly in the area of single-manager hedge funds.
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Crédit Européen launches insurance pension fund
LUXEMBOURG- Crédit Européen, the bank belonging ING Group’s BBL, has become the second company to take advantage of the Luxembourg legislation allowing insurance-based pension funds and is setting up a scheme for its 900 employees.
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Russian pension fund reform delayed
RUSSIA - The draft law governing the investment strategy of Russia’s new state pension system has suffered a further setback with a row developing over the level of participation of the country’s private pension funds (PPFs).
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Mediafond issues RFP for its assets
ITALY – Mediafond, the supplementary pension fund for workers in Italy’s private radio, television and media sectors, has put out an RFP for managers for its assets.
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Schemes' UK equity holdings lowest since 1983
UK- Holdings in domestic equities by UK pension funds has fallen below 50% for the first time since 1983 according to the 2001 Russell/Mellon CAPS pension fund survey. The 1651 UK funds surveyed by Russell/Mellon held an average of 47.4% of their assets in UK equities, down from 51%at the ...
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Robeco restructures mid-caps to suit investors
NETHERLANDS – Rotterdam-based asset management group, Robeco, has amalgamated its Dutch and Euroland mid-cap funds and merged them into the Robeco European mid-caps fund to allow investors greater access to the Swiss and UK markets, Europe’s dominant mid-cap countries.
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Goldmans poach Langensjö from Wassum
UK/SCANDINAVIA – Goldman Sachs Asset Management has appointed Mats Langensjö as executive director in charge of its Scandinavian institutional business development.
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UK funds will not meet two year Myners deadline
UK - The issues surrounding the costs the UK pension fund industry pays its fund managers and the problems of shareholder activism, as highlighted by the Myners' review, will not be resolved by next March, the end of the two-year period the government gave the industry to comply with the ...
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Schroders names new head for Sweden and Finland
SWEDEN/FINLAND- Schroder Investment Management has appointed Johan Hamilton as country head for Sweden and Finland. Hamilton, who will be based in Stockholm, joins from Wassum Investment Consulting where he was a senior consultant advising pension funds, trusts, companies and local governments on investment strategy and manager selection.
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UK managers reluctant to drop soft commissions
UK – The Investment Management Association (IMA) and the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) have drawn up a pension fund disclosure code to be unveiled this week that will require fund managers to provide six-monthly reports on the way they invest UK pension scheme assets on stock markets.
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ING buys CSFB custody business in Russia
RUSSIA - ING Bank (Eurasia), Russia’s largest custodian bank, has acquired Credit Suisse First Boston’s custody business in Russia
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Employers halve DB provision for expatriates
EUROPE/NORTH AMERICA – Defined benefit pension provision for expatriates from European and North American companies has nearly halved in the last 10 years and European firms are more likely to offer a defined contribution alternative...
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Government to decide who runs severance pay system
AUSTRIA - The Austrian government will announce this week details of the Abfertigung neu, the reformed severance payment system that will vastly expand Austria’s corporate pensions market.
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BGI in new high return hedge fund launch
UK/IRELAND – Barclays Global Investors (BGI) in London has launched a new, high return market neutral hedge fund, a higher risk version of its UK equity market neutral fund.
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Portugal's FEFSS prepares to outsource e760m
PORTUGAL- Portugal’s state owned e3.8bn FEFSS fund is looking for a global custodian in preparation for its recent decision to outsource 20% of its e3.8bn portfolio to external managers. Henrique Cruz, a member of the fund’s board says they will select a global custodian by March to provide fund administration ...
