All articles by Jan Wagner – Page 11
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CEIOPS CONFERENCE: Siemens wary on IORP
GERMANY – Technology giant Siemens, which operates several pension funds across Europe, says that contrary to its goal, the EU directive on occupational pension funds will not enable it to create a single European vehicle.
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Swissfirst affair: Siemens manager repays cash
SWITZERLAND – Roland Rümmeli, the Siemens Swiss pension investment head embroiled in the Swissfirst insider trading affair, has repaid CHF400,000 (€251,000) to his former company.
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Deutsche Bahn considering pension trust
GERMANY – Deutsche Bahn, the operator of Germany’s national railway, is considering creating an external fund – known as a contractual trust arrangement – to finance new managers’ pension liabilities.
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German MPs OK Rürup changes
GERMANY – The finance committee for Germany’s lower house of parliament (Bundestag), has approved changes to the Rürup-Rente, a private pension for the self-employed, in a bid to boost its attractiveness.
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BGI’s iShares makes €240 German acquisition
GERMANY – Barclays Global Investors has agreed to pay €240m to acquire Indexchange, a provider of exchange traded funds (ETFs), from German bank HVB.
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Rieter’s Maurer cleared over Swissfirst affair
SWITZERLAND – Swiss industrial firm Rieter has cleared Jürg Maurer, head of investments at its CHF955m (€599bn) pension fund, of any wrongdoing in the Swissfirst affair.
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Union Investment leads asset managers’ Riester charge
GERMANY – Fund industry association BVI, which had previously railed against the so-called Riester pension, has reported a boom in the number of the pensions sold by its members.
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Ist-Investmentstiftung cuts domestic bonds
SWITZERLAND – Ist-Investmentstiftung, a major Swiss pension fund with CHF8.3bn (€5.2bn) in assets, has slightly increased exposure to equities and foreign real estate while cutting exposure to domestic bonds.
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Hannover Re puts €3bn into foreign bonds
GERMANY – Ampega, the asset manager for German re-insurer Hanover Re, has confirmed that, on behalf of the re-insurer, it is awarding €3bn worth of investment mandates for non-European bonds.
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Invesco recruits Wendt in Germany for pensions advance
GERMANY – Invesco’s German arm has recruited Thomas Wendt as its new specialist for pensions business. The appointment is effectively immediately.
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Swiss pension fund returns recover in third quarter
SWITZERLAND – Returns for Pensionskassen, rebounded strongly in the third quarter after a weak first half, according to calculations by WM Performance Services.
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Metzler AM appoints JP Morgan’s Treppner
GERMANY – Metzler Asset Management has recruited Joachim Treppner from JP Morgan in Frankfurt to head up its master fund business. The appointment is effective from November 1.
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German MEP attacks portability plan
GERMANY – Thomas Mann, a German MEP, has fired another broadside at the European Commission’s proposed pensions portability directive, saying that if it were enacted as is, it would seriously threaten occupational pensions in Germany.
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RWE sets up €8bn pensions trust
GERMANY – Energy giant RWE has created an external fund known as a contractual trust arrangement (CTA) to finance €8bn worth of pension liabilities – one of the biggest ever on record.
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Chemie Pensionsfonds set to grow to €100m
GERMANY – Chemie Pensionsfonds, the pension fund targeted at employees in the chemical sector, will have around €100m assets by the end of 2006 but has no immediate plans to outsource investment, a member of its investment committee has told IPE.
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German government agrees first-pillar reform
GERMANY – The governing Conservatives and Social Democrats have agreed details for a major reform of the state pension scheme, to include hikes in the retirement age and the statutory contribution on the one hand and cuts in the state benefit on the other.
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Only half German PKs will survive – survey predicts
GERMANY – Only about half of the Pensionskassen competing for pension business nationwide have a viable long-term business model, according to the consultant Rauser Towers Perrin (RTP).
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Survey finds Swiss funds content with own governance
SWITZERLAND – Swiss pension funds feel that there are no major shortcomings in their corporate governance and that the government need not need tighten their regulation.
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Germany excludes housing from REITs
GERMANY – The German finance ministry has abruptly decided to exclude residential housing from German real estate investment trusts (G-REITs), due to be legalised by the government from January 1, 2007.
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Germany’s FERI hails new shareholder MLP
GERMANY – Top executives at investment consultant Feri Institutional Advisors (FIA) have hailed the involvement of new majority shareholder MLP.
