Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 455
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Features
Headaches continue
Yield curve/duration While the US Federal Reserve has already begun to chop rates down - a remarkable 125 bps in the space of eight days - the European Central Bank (ECB) has maintained its hawkish tone and has kept its hand off the easing button. The futures markets are, however, ...
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Features
Has spring sprung?
Frogspawn, tadpoles, catkins, ladybirds, snowdrops and nest-building rooks are just a few signs that spring has sprung early this year. Indeed, some scientists are convinced that the traditional European winter is a thing of the past, such has been the impact of global warming. The investment climate has been rather ...
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Features
Dividing core tasks
The increasingly complexity of the pensions environment is driving trustees to look at outsourcing more of their fund services. Rachel Fixsen reports
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Special ReportFiduciary management
In the Netherlands, fiduciary management for pension funds has become common. According to a recent survey by the advisory firm KPMG, of the 80% of schemes with fully contracted out asset management, one third has a fiduciary manager. But funds that have already appointed a fiduciary manager may also appoint ...
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FeaturesOverdue for an overhaul
International accounting standards have served pensions accounting well, but it is time for an update, argues Andrew Lennard
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FeaturesETF trading volumes soar on market turbulence
Trading volumes of exchange-traded funds (ETF) soared to three times their normal level during the late January credit crunch, according to Barclays Global Investors’ ETF arm iShares.
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FeaturesSwitching styles
If large cap growth continues to outperform small cap and value, how will institutions find the right growth managers? Joseph Mariathasan reports
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Features
First component change for DJIA since 2004
Bank of America and Chevron have replaced Altria Group and Honeywell International in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Altria, known as Philip Morris until 2003, had been in the industrial average since October 1985. Last year it spun off Kraft Foods and announced a spin-off of Philip Morris International in ...
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Features
Traded Life Policy Fund index shows sector growth
The newly launched Traded Life Policy Fund index reported a 108.5% growth in the collective size of the funds it monitors in the 12 months to 1 November 2007. The combined assets under management rose to $405.2m (€277m) from $194.35m, or around $17.57m a month. The index tracks the size ...
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Features
Volatility causes flight to non-correlated assets
Recent volatility has caused a flight to non-correlated assets, according to exchange-traded commodity (ETC) provider ETF Securities (ETFS). ETFS said it continued to see sharp growth in ETCs, with its total assets under management growing 32% in January to over $3.3bn (€2.3bn). This demand is a result of investors wanting ...
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Features
New products
Emerging markets ETFs ETF provider iShares has launched two new ETFs on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The iShares JPMorgan $ Emerging Markets Bond fund offers access to US dollar-denominated sovereign and quasi-sovereign bonds issued by emerging market countries in ETF form. The iShares S&P Emerging Markets Infrastructure fund is ...
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Features
A false sense of security
Nearly half of the Swedish public is labouring under a misconception about how money in their first pillar pension scheme is invested, according to a recent survey. The Premium Pensions Authority (PPM) runs the DC portion of Sweden’s first pillar provision. How the 2.5% of salary directed into it is ...
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Special ReportOff the record: Bean counters called to account
Few issues have generated so much controversy among Europe’s corporate pension schemes as the application of international accounting standards (IAS). In Switzerland, the introduction of IAS19 has led pension lawyers to re-define Pensionskassen as defined contribution (DC) rather than defined benefit (DB) schemes in an effort to escape its provisions. In the Netherlands, industry-wide schemes have argued that the involvement of a large number of corporate sponsors has made the implementation of IAS19 impossible.
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Features
Key steps in tandem
The coming months will see crucial developments in the areas of bearer securities, Belgium’s new pensions vehicle and the Target2 Securities project, says Heather McKenzie
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FeaturesGaps in the landscape
While the authorities hope the new OPF vehicle will attract foreign pension funds to base themselves in Belgium, the domestic second pillar is not as robust as it should be, George Coats finds
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FeaturesHands off the tiller
Belgium was without a government for the second half of last year. Did anybody notice? George Coats investigates
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Features
Preparing for settlement migration
This year could be a watershed for settlement in Europe. The European Central Bank (ECB) will decide in July whether to procede with the development of its euro-zone settlement system, Target2 Securities (T2S). Meanwhile, international central securities depository (ICSD) Euroclear plans to finish the roll-out of Euronext zone securities (Eses). ...
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Special ReportExtra-financial coverage broadens
Extra-financial issues (EFIs), especially environmental issues, are receiving broader and more sophisticated research coverage, according to the seventh semi-annual Enhanced Analytics Initiative (EAI) evaluation. EAI chairman Peter Scales (pictured above) puts this down to increasing external pressure and the recognition by a growing number of financial institutions of a link ...
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Features
Taking a stake
The typical shareholder does not like underperforming companies. However, where he only sees loss of profits, others see an opportunity.
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FeaturesStrategically speaking: Finles Capital Management
Finles Capital Management, a Dutch investment management boutique based in Utrecht, is unusual for at least two reasons.
