Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 276
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Features
Integrity matters
While they have been few in number, the various scandals at European pension funds have brought to light the need for clear and coherent codes of conduct for pension trustees and staff, writes Gail Moss
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News
EIOPA expected to publish consultation on holistic balance sheet
Wording in IORP II Directive protecting schemes from solvency requirements removed
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Features
DC plans in search of credibility
Worldwide, diversity increasingly characterises defined contribution (DC) schemes. There are employee-managed plans in Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US. There are trustee-led plans in Australia, Brazil, Chile, continental Europe and South Africa. There are state-supervised DC plans in China, India, Malaysia and Singapore.
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Opinion Pieces
Woody at work
Woody is the villain of the new book The US Pension Crisis – What We Need to Do Now to Save America’s Pensions, by Ronald Ryan. According to Ryan, Woody is the “pension pencil” or “the weapon of mass destruction in financial America”, used since the 1990s for accounting gimmicks that conceal the real financial situation of pension funds.
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Opinion Pieces
A stinging rebuke
The private pension product sector is “persistently the worst-performing retail services market of all throughout the European Union”, according to the European Commission, as cited in a new report.
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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
Focus Group: Political risk versus reward
Unsurprisingly for anyone who has caught a news broadcast during 2014, 20 of the investors polled for this month’s Focus Group think that political risk has increased over the past 12 months, with the five remaining funds saying it has stayed about the same. None feels that it has decreased.
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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.
