Latest analysis – Page 69
-
Features
A busy time for the lobbyists
Gail Moss finds out what pension fund associations are doing in response to issues caused by the current financial troubles and reforms across Europe
-
Opinion Pieces
Target date woe
Target date funds (TDF) are still the fastest growing investment option in US 401(k) plans. They have survived the recent hearings held jointly by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Labor (DOL), and the industry’s fear that they were going to be constricted by new heavy rules has waned. But investment companies and plan sponsors must better explain TDF risks to workers if they want to grow further.
-
Opinion Pieces
A golden age
“Dealing with the impact of an ageing population in the EU,” a communication from the European Commission, kicks off with the joyful view that: “For the first time in history, the vast majority of Europe’s citizens are able to lead active, healthy and participative lives well into old age.”
-
Opinion Pieces
Solvency II
The European Commission called representatives of the European pensions and insurance industry and member state officials to a public hearing in May to thrash out a harmonisation of solvency rules for cross-border company pension schemes (IORPs). But most attendees were not receptive.
-
FeaturesDawn of a new normal
In the first article covering a new global study, Jim McCaughan, Neeraj Sahai and Amin Rajan argue that what asset managers do next will decide their industry’s fate
-
Opinion Pieces
PBGC woes
What a difference nine months can make. At the end of last September, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) closed its fiscal year with a deficit of ‘only’ $11bn (€7.9bn) and its director Charles Millard was busy implementing his new “less conservative” investment strategy, under which the majority of the $55bn assets was to be shifted out of bonds and into riskier stocks and alternative asset classes.
-
FeaturesEastern values show promise
While Western financial services world languishes, Pirkko Juntunen notes that firms in the East, such as The BMB Group, appear to be cashing in on opportunities for growth
-
Features
Deficits raise questions over the future of Sweden’s AP funds
George Coats examines whether it is time to put politics aside and create one buffer fund that can provide for all generations and save money in the process
-
Features
AMF bonuses become a toxic issue
The outrage sweeping Europe and North America at bonus payments and large pension pots awarded to executives of loss-making financial services entities is also reflected in Sweden. The highest profile victim is AMF, Sweden’s largest pension insurance company and one of its most trusted brands.
-
Features
Time to rethink Irish benefits
Accrued benefits in defined benefit (DB) schemes have previously seemed off-limits for employers looking to cut costs. But with an estimated 90% of Irish DB schemes failing the minimum funding standard it may be time for a rethink.
-
Features
Undiminished allure
Last year’s equity market collapse made stocks look poor on a 10-year view against cash and bonds. But they remain the best way to get exposure to long-term economic growth. Lucy MacDonald makes the case for equities
-
Opinion Pieces
University challenge
Even the ‘smartest’ money is suffering. US university endowments, the early adopters of alternative and esoteric investments, which were often recommended by their most brilliant alumni, are experiencing huge problems because of the market downturn and the illiquidity of those assets, compounded by the increase of expenses and the decline of revenues, including donations.
-
Features
Governance: more questions than answers
At IPE’s Pension Fund Governance Forum last month, Karel Stroobants, independent trustee and former director of the Belgian Amonis fund, wanted to know why there was so little debate on how the guardians of $20-plus trillion in retirement wealth actually govern themselves.
-
Features
Crisis blame game at NAPF conference
It was no surprise that the main focus of the UK National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) annual investment conference was less on what strategies schemes can or should adopt and more on whether trustees were to blame for the current economic crisis.
-
Features
Most returns firmly in the red
The continuing downward trend of pension fund solvency levels means even those funds which came even close to zero return could see their asset allocation scrutinised by colleagues.
-
Opinion Pieces
Physician, heal thyself
Are pension funds victims of the current financial meltdown or are they part of the problem?
-
FeaturesDeath of common sense
In his final article on a new report, Amin Rajan concludes that without a sea change in the existing practices, pension funds will continue to stumble from one crisis to another
-
Features
Returns: looking bleak
Evidence is now emerging of just how tough a year 2008 was for pension funds. Individual schemes have begun to report their investment results and the division between those who favour equities over bonds and liability-driven investment strategies is becoming all too apparent.
