Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 434
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Country ReportLocal bias extracts a price
When the Irish stock exchange was booming, domestic equities were the place to be. But many pension funds were slow to diversify and this is reflected in their returns, finds George Coats
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Country Report
Shelved, not forgotten
The Green Paper on pensions was supposed to play a key role in the evolution of Irish pensions policy but the market and economic crises have seen it drop off the government’s agenda. George Coats assesses whether it still has any relevance in the new situation
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Country Report
Putting the focus on regulation
Regulation was one the main issues mentioned in responses to the government’s Green Paper on Pensions, with many submissions focusing on the funding standard for DC pension schemes. “There were always potential problems around the issue of the funding standard and it has become a lot more real now,” says ...
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Country Report
The Leaving of Ireland
What happens when transient workers who have paid into Irish pension funds return home? Gail Moss investigates
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Country ReportFears of added financial burden
Opinion is divided on the practicalities of setting up a pension protection scheme in Ireland, finds Julie Henderson
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Country ReportPrevailing winds on lifeboat scheme
The establishment of a State Annuity Fund has been under debate for some years. Philip Shier explains the arguments
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Country ReportAge of responsibility
The Pensions Ombudsman has warned pension fund trustees that they must understand their investment risks. Nyree Stewart assesses their evolving role
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Country Report
State eyes on the piggy bank
Ireland’s pensions reserve fund was seen as a success but now the government wants to raid its assets to refinance troubled banks, finds George Coats
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Country Report
Taking the hit
Domestic asset managers were sheltered by pension funds’ local bias, although international players were making inroads. George Coats samples opinions on a possible post-crisis landscape in asset managemenmt
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FeaturesHedging in practice
The focus of liability driven strategies has so far largely been on interest rate and inflation risk. Solutions to longevity risk have been slow both in creation and take-up, finds Nina Röhrbein
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Special ReportThe €64bn Question
Brendan Maton outlines the factors that are helping us to live longer – and costing us more in pension terms
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Features
Not an exact science
To begin at the beginning with actuarial science: it ain’t perfect. Most pension managers have probably already twigged this after years of data revisions by their appointed scheme actuary. In spite of any appearances to the contrary, actuaries are human, not divine. Yet they qualify and are consequently paid to ...
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FeaturesWill central banks carry on cutting?
ZIRP, ‘zero interest rate policy’, first became a familiar acronym in February 1999 when the Bank of Japan (BoJ) finally cut official rates to zero. Japan was enduring a financial crisis of epic proportions, and the economy was suffering agonies as property values kept declining, the stock market plunged, prices ...
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FeaturesEdgy on equities but eager for infrastructure
In many areas Norway has carved out its own distinct path. Kjetil Houg, finance director at Oslo Pensjonsforsikring, tells Nina Röhrbein how this has helped the country’s largest local authority pension scheme to navigate the market crisis
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Features
Sovereign funds under pressure
Sovereign pension funds (SPFs) have emerged in recent years as part of governments’ moves to ensure they had enough financing to cover state pension obligations without relying on pay-as-you-go tax schemes. In recent months, however, two of Europe’s largest government schemes - Norway’s Government Pension Fund - Global and the ...
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Special Report
Downturn offers boardrooms opportunity for reassessment
Governance consultant Lynn Ralph talks about what institutional investors can learn from the her experience working with Australian superannuation funds
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Special Report
Play your swaps cards right
There are still opportunities at the right price for investors looking to hedge their risk via swaps. But, as Gill Wadsworth finds, they must take great care over timing and choice of counterparty
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Special ReportStock lending – worth the candle?
Nina Röhrbein finds that the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the shorting bans in major markets have prompted some European pension funds to suspend their stocklending activities
