Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 371
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FeaturesNordic investors warm to EMD
Investors in Nordic countries show rising interest in emerging market debt as a way to take part in the emerging market story. Jan Willers reports on findings of a recent survey
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Features
An avarice for absolute return
Pirkko Juntunen looks at the unique pension investment policy employed by Swedish construction company Skanska
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Features
Event horizons
Martin Steward finds an unusual corporate event cycle teeing up opportunities for event-driven hedge funds – but not necessarily classic merger arbitrage or distressed debt
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Asset Class Reports
Structured Credit: Alphabet soup: a second helping
Joseph Mariathasan takes a look at the structured credit and loans markets and finds a surprising abundance of reasons to tuck back into the alphabet soup, even after significant spread-tightening
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Special Report
A tailor-made trend
Nina Röhrbein reports on a recent surge in demand for sustainable indices, but questions whether they match client needs
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Special Report
The future of cleantech
Investors in the cleantech industry are not just funding the development of environmentally conscious business, argues Paul Corren. While the technology is developed to do that, it is also focused on reducing costs and improving efficiency
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Special Report
Measuring social impact
Work needs to be done to standardise the measurement of the social impact of investments. Michele Giddens warns against oversimplifying the question
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Interviews
‘Adjacency’, or the art of step-by-step
It is tempting, just because it is so good at it, to think of the $11bn (€7.8bn) London-based hedge fund manager CQS as a credit specialist. But founder Michael Hintze is keen to emphasise its broader strengths. “We are a big hedge fund, but we do more than simply provide absolute returns in credit,” he says. “Nowadays we are a global multi-strategy, multi-asset management firm providing hedge fund, long only and bespoke solutions for clients.”
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Features
Opening up custody
Planned merger of Russia’s rival exchanges could clear the way for securities lending, writes Iain Morse
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Features
Diary of an Investor: Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
We Dutch value consensus – perhaps we even need it in the way we need our dikes and polders to manage our low-lying lands.
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Features
Risk remains a top issue
Over three-quarters of respondents to this month’s Off The Record survey stated that risk management had been raised as an agenda item on their board in the past 12 months. This was slightly lower than reported at the same time last year (85%), but still clearly shows its importance as an issue for pension funds.
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Country Report
Italy: Uncertainty reigns supreme
The Italian pension sector is facing a period of overdue reform, the second-pillar needs strenghtening and the restrictive law 703 hampers investment decisions. But Carlo Svaluto Moreolo wonders if the government has any desire for change
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Country Report
Italy: The guard changes at Cometa
As Fabio Ortolani steps down from the Cometa pension scheme ahead of August’s management elections, Carlo Svaluto Moreolo offers an appraisal of his term and the issues that the new team will have to focus upon
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Opinion Pieces
MiFID II
The European Commission is preparing its revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID I) that provides harmonised regulation for investment services. MiFID II is due to be published in September 2011, slightly delayed from the earlier deadline of July.
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Opinion Pieces
A labour of love
This is a busy time for pension fund professionals in the US as they try to figure out the impact of new rules issued by the department of labor (DoL) on fee disclosure and fiduciary responsibility. Changes are likely to occur soon for plan sponsors, providers, investment managers, brokers, and advisers of 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans, which reached a record $4trn (€2.8trn) in total assets and 82m participants at the end of 2010, according to Plan Sponsor.
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Features
Martin Steward: The numbers game
Everyone knows about the spectacular growth of online gaming over the past 10 years. You probably have companies making money from this business tucked away in your portfolio. Less well-known is its effect on some venerable casino-based games. It hasn’t drawn players away from casinos – quite the opposite – ...
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Features
Liam Kennedy: Infrastructure pains
The US pioneered the development of modern fast roads with its interstate highway network in the 1950s and 60s. Yet the August 2007 collapse of the Mississippi Bridge in Minnesota highlighted the decrepit state of some of this infrastructure. And it is not just roads that need to be developed.
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Country Report
Switzerland: Yes, but...
Swiss occupational pension reform is on schedule but the industry does not agree on how to implement it, reports Barbara Ottawa
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Country Report
Switzerland: Industry views
As part of the structural reform of the second pillar, Swiss regulations BVV1 regarding the supervision of occupational pensions and BVV2 concerning occupational pensions, disability and bereavement provision – have been amended. A new regulation, ASV, is also set to take effect from January 2012. As part of the legislative ...
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Country Report
Switzerland: Converging problems
‘Too rash, too unadvised, too sudden’ is Juliet’s appraisal of Romeo’s declaration of love. This characterises the thinking of member companies of the BVK about proposed recovery measures, writes Barbara Ottawa
