All IPE articles in July 2005 (Magazine) – Page 4
-
Features
Belgians seek level playing field
The body advising Belgian minister Bruno Tobback on pensions issues is to consider a legal formula to create a level playing field between new sector-wide pension funds being established under the socalled Vandenbroucke Law (VDB) and pension insurance companies. In the formative period the new pension funds are not legal ...
-
Features
Currency and behaviour
Portfolio investors have progressively accepted the argument that international diversification provides risk/return benefits. However, the currency dimension has remained an emotional issue and currency hedging is a sensitive decision. Attractive local-currency returns on foreign asset market can be swamped by a depreciation of the foreign currency. Conversely, the return on ...
-
Special Report
Walk before you can run
Although most people in the investment industry agree pension funds are becoming more interested in SRI, there are many different ways of approaching it. From choosing how strictly they should judge companies they invest in, to defining why they want SRI in the first place, pension funds face a series ...
-
Features
Law change backs pension funds
Austrian pension funds and private equity are not an obvious fit. For a start - in terms of private equity investing as a whole - Austria comes near the bottom of the European league. Just 0.051% of Austrian gross domestic product was invested in private equity in 2003, the latest ...
-
Features
Pragma assesses new EU members
The 10 new EU member states ought to encourage defined benefit-type pension schemes and introduce three-pillar systems, according to a report from Brussels-based consultant Pragma. Nine international institutions, including the two largest Dutch pension schemes ABP and PGGM, sponsored the EU-wide study. It aimed to give the new members’ reserves ...
-
Features
Ask the expert systems
Over 30 years ago, the US economist Benjamin Graham distinguished two basic approaches to investing – qualitative and quantitative. In his book ‘The intelligent investor’, he wrote: “The first or predictive approach could also be called the qualitative approach, since it emphasises prospects, management and other non-measurable, although highly important, ...
-
Features
Pooling is now on the agenda
The UK custody and securities services market continues to be one of the most competitive in Europe and can still attract new players. BNP Paribas Securities Services and KAS Bank are the latest European players to take on the dominance of the big US banks. These relative newcomers are not ...
-
Features
Sweden’s PPM appoints board for ‘better advice’
The Swedish Premium Pension Authority, PPM, has created a four-strong scientific advisory board, which includes Michael Orzag of Watson Wyatt. The board is to function as a reference point for PPM’s work and give the authority advice in areas of academic research, financial economics as well as communication. It comprises: ...
-
Features
Involuntary acts of generosity
“We are the best value MPs in Europe,” says Gerhard Hess of the Swiss Democrats. Swiss parliamentarians – MPs and senators, are unique in Europe, if not the world, in that they do not receive a salary. This means that while Swiss workers as a whole are among the most ...
