Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 244
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Special ReportGold: Best European Pension Fund - British Steel Pension Fund
Judge’s comment: “How British Steel manages to improve from year to year is baffling and beyond me. But it does and this is a seriously impressive organisation. With its pioneering LDI and notable cost controls framework, this is the scheme others should follow. A clear winner this year.”
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Special ReportBronze: Fixed Income - Bosch Pensionsfonds
Judge’s comment: “Innovative fixed income strategy given the fund’s objectives and the market it operates in, with a good level of diversification.”
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Special ReportGold: Pension Fund Achievement of the Year - Helen Kobæk, PenSam
Judge’s comment: “This is what I call an achievement. It shows the CEO’s willingness to look beyond her fiduciary duty. The sense of social responsibility PenSam has assumed should serve as a role model for the industry.”
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Features
Finland: Funds defend investment stance
Finnish pension funds Valtion Eläkerahasto (VER) and Ilmarinen have defended their levels of investment in the local economy in the face of concerns that Finnish institutions are becoming less able to invest in domestic equities.
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Interviews
Strategically speaking: Principal Global Investors - A glimpse into the future
At least no-one dies as a result of what the investment management industry does or does not do. Unlike technological companies considering drone pizza deliveries or driverless cars, and where real issues of safety and liability may arise, asset management executives only have a set of financial outcomes to consider.
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Opinion Pieces
Greece’s Private Sector: Hope lies in SMEs
Is the EU a community of states or just a trade organisation structured to stimulate demand in favour of the stronger economies? That existential question can provoke much discussion, but the relationship between the EU and Greece in the years ahead may provide the real answer.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Brussels: Focus on low returns
Dismally low returns on EU pension fund investments over 15 years? The allegation comes in a study by Better Finance, the European Federation of Investors & Financial Services Users. The report, Pensions Savings: The Real Return, points to excessive fees, points to other charges, and badly framed taxation rules, as the culprits.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from the US: Lower expectations
Most US state retirement systems are cutting their investment return predictions. But this is still not enough, according to critics, and a minority of public pension funds are retaining optimistic assumptions and aggressive strategies.
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Opinion Pieces
Guest Viewpoint: Mark Fawcett - National Employment Savings Trust (UK)
It is early days for the UK’s new pension regime under which DC savers no longer have to buy an annuity. However, there are already lessons to be learned from the reforms.
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Features
Demographics: Global Growth - Doldrums ahead
Niels Jensen argues that an ageing population and lower productivity are the biggest threats to global economic growth
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Asset Class ReportsGlobal Equities: Ecology of a mega-cap
China has leapfrogged Japan into second place after the US on the global mega-companies list. We explore attributes that help companies develop into giants
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Special Report
Fixed Income Challenges: These peculiar times
One of the classic mistakes people make while driving is to fail to look far enough ahead. It is all too common for drivers to fixate on what is just in front of them rather than scanning further in the distance
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Features
Pulled in two directions
It is understandable that politicians covet institutional capital to help finance future economic growth
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Country ReportPensions in Spain: Hit by uncertainty
Uncertainty over Greece is only one of several factors that have influenced trends in asset allocation over the past year
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Special Report
German Asset Management: In search of opportunities
Institutions are looking for opportunities to invest in infrastructure but the political and regulatory framework is hindering domestic allocations
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from the US: From small beginnings
The US private retirement annuity market is quite small. But it is likely to grow dramatically thanks to the convergence of various factors
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Features
Millennials: Cafe culture comes to Wall Street
Millennials are already changing the face of business and lifestyle. Christopher O’Dea looks at how this new-technology era is affecting economies and investment
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Features
This is not a debt crisis
The widely held claim that the world is in the latter stages of a prolonged debt crisis should be challenged on more than one count
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Special Report
Interview: State Street & SSGA - A bet on pensions growth
International providers have long seen Germany as an attractive market. State Street opened an office in 1970, while State Street Global Advisors has had a presence since 1998
