All IPE articles in June 2005 (Magazine)
View all stories from this issue.
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Features
Absolute returns harder to find?
In theory, hedge funds are all about delivering absolute returns – finding the elusive alpha. Until now, it has been universally accepted that the objective of a hedge fund is to provide positive absolute returns over a medium-term investment horizon irrespective of market environment and traditional market performance. But in ...
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Features
Case for active style allocation
Although the existing literature seems to concur on the interest of hedge funds as valuable investment alternatives, there seem to be several shortcomings in current industry practice when it comes to fully capitalising on the advantages of including hedge funds in an investor’s asset allocation. So far, the only solution ...
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Special Report
Hungary comes of age
As market forces took hold across the former eastern bloc following the collapse of communism, the emergence of a thin layer of very wealthy individuals was one of the most visible, and disturbing developments. How can a system of supposed equality give way to such apparent inequality? Is it the ...
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Features
Alpha: looking in wrong place?
Institutional investors coping with a low-return environment have recently been pouring unprecedented amounts of capital into hedge funds. The stated motives for doing so vary, but are all rooted in the search for higher expected returns. Some point to the track records of hedge funds during the recent bear market ...
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Features
Pensions reforms back on track
Few countries need pension reforms as badly as Russia. The majority of the country’s 40m pensioners live in dire poverty, and this population is increasing as a result of increasing longevity. Pensions reforms, however, have had a mixed response, from both the public and providers. Their complexity has raised questions ...
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Features
Over a barrel
The world has become accustomed to increased crude oil prices in recent years. But while most oil analysts ascribe the major price upsets to factors inherent to the crude oil market, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has put part of the blame on the speculative role of pension ...
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Features
How BASF has it taped
Let us rewind to the year 1888. In that year BASF was one of the first companies in Germany to set up a Pensionskasse. Fast-forward to the present: Today it caters for BASF’s German employees with a funding of around E4.5bn, and forms part of a network of schemes with ...
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Features
Belgium starts to warm up
As a nation, Belgium comes way down the list of private equity investors in Europe. In 2003, the latest year for which figures are available, private equity investments equalled only 0.1% of gross domestic product, according to the European Venture Capital Association. That was less than half the European average ...
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Features
Managing home bias
IPE asked three pension funds in three countries – in Finland, Ireland and Switzerland – the same question: ‘Do pension funds have a duty to invest in local industries?’ Here are their answers: Bríd Horan, general manager of Ireland’s ESB Pension Fund, which has AUM of e2.8bn. “Irish pension ...
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Features
Fear of a bubble unfounded
The global hedge fund market has grown at a rate of circa 20% over the last four years, total assets under management reaching an estimated $1trn (e793bn) by year-end 2004. Inflows did slow, however, during the second half of 2004, not least because of the comparatively modest performance experienced in ...
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Features
Sharing and caring
Currently, employers bear the investment risk in defined benefit (DB) pension plans while employees bear the risk in defined contribution (DC) type plans. Recent equity market performance, longevity risk and the impact of international accounting rules have persuaded many employers to introduce a DC alternative to their DB plans. This ...
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Features
Cash increases your options
Increasingly, pension funds in Europe are seeking better ways of managing their cash. Peter Eerdmans, senior investment consultant at Watson Wyatt in London, sees two main reasons for this focus. Cash is carried within the fund, for instance by an equities manager who has not invested it, and this may ...
