Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 267
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Special Report
Top 1000: Austria - The fight against inertia
Every Austrian born after 1955 who has accrued pension benefits in the state pension system now has a new account, the Pensionskonto. And for the first time, each citizen has also received a letter in which they are informed about their pension benefits from the first pillar pay-as-you-go scheme.
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Special Report
Top 1000: Belgium - Plenty more to do
The new government has received a raft of recommendations to fix the disparities in the country’s pension system. Is it too little too late?
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Special Report
Top 1000: Denmark - Ahead on Solvency II
The regulator and pensions association have been working on a standard solvency model that guarantees equal protection for policyholders. Many elements of Solvency II are in place.
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Special Report
Top 1000: Finland - A focus on solvency and governance
Implementation of Solvency II continues apace. Wide-ranging reforms will raise the retirement age and there has been a focus on transparency following a governance scandal.
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Special Report
Top 1000: France - Growth for PERCO
Supplementary PERCO plans have seen strong growth but funded pension schemes are still concerned about Solvency II.
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Special Report
Top 1000: Germany - Issues with AIFMD implementation
New regulations implementing the AIFM Directive might limit the use of certain alternative investment vehicles.
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Special Report
Top 1000: Iceland - Countdown to the end of capital controls?
Despite their considerable overseas asset holdings, Iceland’s pension funds remain heavily invested in a domestic market showing signs of overheating.
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Special Report
Top 1000: Ireland - The state steps in
As a new regulatory structure beds down, minor but important changes have been made to reintroduce equity into the pensions system.
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Features
Collective lessons from professionals
Experience shows that the benefits of intergenerational solidarity and collective pension risk sharing are often not appreciated, particularly by those who feel they are shouldering a greater share of the burden than they ought.
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Features
I’ll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak
The court scene from The Merchant of Venice dramatises the balance between justice and equity. Argentina’s conflict with its ‘holdout’ creditors, which led to default on its New York-law bonds, suggests that it ought to be required reading for sovereign debt investors.
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Features
The shore will turn the ship
After five years of intense negotiations and acrimonious disputes, the Dutch have finally settled on a new financial framework (FTK), expected to take effect, at least in part, as of January 2015.
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Features
Pension pot pitfalls
Like compulsory voting, compulsory pensions have not taken off to a great extent: Australia practices both, Switzerland has had mandatory supplementary pensions since the 1980s, and pensions are compulsory for most workers through collective labour agreements in the Netherlands.
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Features
The changing bond climate
Green bonds, until very recently a niche product, are gaining in prominence as the market grows above $500bn (€369bn).
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Features
The Irish word for ‘appropriate’
Following a recent High Court ruling, Ireland’s pensions industry has found itself questioning whether the current minimum funding standard (MFS) for schemes can endure.
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Opinion Pieces
Learning disabilities
Who would invest in a sector that has lagged the Stoxx 600 by 1.1% in overall growth and by 0.3% in EPS growth for the last 19 years on an annual basis?
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Opinion Pieces
Rethink on alternatives
After five strong years in the equity markets, some US pension funds are disappointed by the performance of their alternative assets and moving out, while others are keeping them but focusing on de-risking.
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Features
Russia in the limelight
With or without the situation in Ukraine, the shooting down of flight MH17 and international sanctions, the economic outlook for Russia is questionable. We asked two respected observers whether pension funds should pull out
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Features
Blank canvas for Swedish banking fund
After a year and a half of deliberation, SPK’s new investment strategy is finally coming together. When the SEK24bn (€2.6bn) pension fund for saving bank employees moved into its new premises in central Stockholm at the beginning of the summer, it did so with a completely transformed investment portfolio.
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Opinion Pieces
“The best CDC design is collective implementation with clear ownership rights”
Designing a robust retirement income solution is not easy – as with most complex issues, there are no silver bullets, only trade-offs. The challenge is to balance life-long retirement income stability with financial risk-taking, all within a framework that is understandable, transparent and fair and hence can be trusted by members.
