Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 468
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Features
Putting the second pillar in place
It was a long and stony road to get the system up and running, and George Coats finds there is still a long way to go
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Features
Winners and losers
The prospects for investments in the Balkans are improving but political stability remains a concern, as does the lack of liquidity in the region, writes Branko Železnik
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Features
Finding a half-way house
In the aftermath of several scandals,legislation introducing regulatory and governance changes is in the pipeline But, with moves towards regionalisation of supervision, George Coats finds that the debate on the issues is far from over
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Features
Fed’s rate cut buoys markets and steepens curve
Yield curve/duration lthough neither the ECB nor the Bank of England (BoE) raised rates at the start of September, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) did step in to cut rates. While the US forward markets had over the summer already moved to discount an early autumn rate cut, the size ...
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Features
Province of a select few?
Complexity and regulation continue to drive outsourcing of pension fund investments, finds Rachel Fixsen
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Features
A proud man at the helm
Roderick Munsters is the head of investments at Europe’s largest second pillar pension fund, the Dutch civil servants’ scheme ABP. He talks to Brendan Maton about Warren Buffet, Jean Frijns and the opportunities to be found during market crises
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Features
Shifting horizons
The AHV/AVS Swiss Federal Social Security Buffer Fund, continues to diversify its assets − this year investing into commodities and Japanese small cap equities. However, it faces a long-term funding crisis that could see its assets dwindle to nothing within eight years. Liam Kennedy spoke with Eric Breval, the fund’s managing director
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Features
No man is an island
The Isle of Man government is keen to promote the island as an attractive place to locate a business. To this end, it has published proposals to simplify its tax regime for pensions, with the intention of enabling the Isle of Man to remain competitive with other countries. As such, ...
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Features
Taking the downs with the ups
As the waves of the US sub-prime lending crisis lap on Europe’s shores, how worried should Europe’s pension funds be? The credit crunch has affected banks and institutions that borrow on the capital markets, as liquidity has dried up. But how has this affected Europe’s pension schemes and their investments? The evidence is that pension funds are prepared to ride out market volatility without any significant change of course.
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Features
What makes good communication?
IPE asked three pension services – in Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Spain – the same question: ‘How and what do you communicate with your members?’ Here are their answers:
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Features
A consultant evolution
Consolidation in Germany’s actuarial and investment consulting market continues apace, notably with Watson Wyatt’s acquisition of the big hitter Heissmann. Pirkko Juntunen reports
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Features
Germany fund overview
n general there is an increase in the investment of institutional assets using mutual funds. The arguments in favour of this trend are the adoption of IFRS accounting standards by corporates, mutual funds’ higher liquidity and fungibility, and the corresponding supply of share classes orientated towards the pricing requirements of ...
