Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 359
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Opinion Pieces
Hedge funds face clip
Hedge funds enjoyed record inflows in 2011 as new assets from US pension funds poured into their coffers. But it was also a horrible year for their performance and investors put a lot of pressure on them for better terms.
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Features
Ireland returns to the funding standard
With the imminent reintroduction of the funding standard in Ireland, as well as new guidelines on sovereign annuities, the pension industry is to witness some significant changes.
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Features
Dutch fiduciaries maintain their guard
Fiduciary managers foresee greater demand for inflation-linked strategies and give a cautious welcome to some aspects of a still vague pension deal, writes Mariska van der Westen
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Country Report
Switzerland: Life in a safe haven
September’s shock devaluation of the Swiss franc halted the decline in the value of Swiss pension funds’ foreign assets. On the other hand, ultra- low rates are putting extreme pressure on funds. Nina Röhrbein assesses asset allocation in the light of these extremes
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Country Report
Switzerland: Efficient stability
Nina Röhrbein reviews current Swiss asset allocation trends
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Country Report
Switzerland: No magic formula
The minimum interest rate in the Swiss second pillar was recently cut from 2% to 1.5% for 2012, writes Barbara Ottawa. But experts believe this is still too high to be sustainable
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Country Report
Switzerland: The problem of converting minds
Legally, Swiss Pensionskassen have to apply a 6.9% conversion rate but the actual rate used is much lower. Barbara Ottawa asks why politics are not adjusting to reality
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Country Report
Switzerland: The super regulator
Pierre Triponez, president of new Swiss federal pensions supervisory body – the Oberaufsichtskommission (OAK) – discusses his role and remit with Cécile Sourbes
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Country Report
Switzerland: More fairness needed
Pension funds are feeling the pinch in the sovereign debt crisis, writes Gérard Fischer, CEO of Swisscanto. In the long term, they can only deliver their promised benefits through a better distribution of assets, income and recapitalisation contributions between generations
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: A true alternative
Bainbridge Partners exploits the fact that some hedge fund strategies simply diversify better than others, finds Martin Steward
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: Once bitten... twice shy
The year 2011 has been a good one for emerging hedge fund talent. However, prospective candidates are being put through their paces by cautious investors, finds Lynn Strongin Dodds
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: The governance minefield
Milan’s ECPI assesses the sustainability of hedge funds’ portfolios – and their business models. Martin Steward spoke to CEO Paolo Sardi
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: Still work to do on governance
Hedge funds still suffer an image problem, writes John Donohoe. Carne Global’s latest investor survey reveals the institutional investors’ governance concerns
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: A decade on the learning curve
Martin Steward spoke to Finnish pension insurance company Varma about its experiences at the cutting edge of absolute returns
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Features
Swiss challenge
Global custodians are finding Swiss accounting regulations a barrier to its custody and servicing market, writes Iain Morse
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Features
Hedging your bets
Just over 70% of respondents to this month’s Off The Record quick poll stated that their pension fund invested in hedge funds.
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Features
Focus on DC
It is difficult to retain sight of the founding principles of the EU’s Pensions Directive (IORP) when confronted with the 500-page response of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) to the EC’s call for advice last April on its review of the legislation.
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Features
The good, the bad and the average
New analysis from Merrill Lynch indicates that hedge funds have never been so closely correlated with equities as they have in the past three years. It initiated another of those periodic waves of comment that pension funds are wasting their time and money going to hedge funds for “uncorrelated returns”.
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Features
I polder, you polder
In October, the Dutch pension system was named the best in the world for the third year running by the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension index. But despite its top ranking, the Dutch system scored less on adequacy and sustainability than the previous year and its overall index value slipped from 78.3 to 77.9. In the Netherlands, as elsewhere, pension provision is under threat from a rising tide of troubles, including an ageing (and long-lived) population, low interest rates and fretful financial markets.
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Features
A precarious balance
We have heard much in recent years about institutions that were, or are, ‘too big to fail’, particularly in 2008 when Bear Stearns collapsed, followed later that year by the entry of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into government conservatorship, the bailout of AIG and the collapse without rescue of Lehman Brothers.
