Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 501
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Features
Contradictions at heart of IFRS
Are the IFRS at odds with the Solvency II recommendations on good risk management practices in insurance companies, Philippe Foulquier asks
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Features
Hitting the ceiling
Lithuania after much delay implemented its successful pensions system in 2004. Now the debate is where to go from here, as George Coats reports
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Special Report
Dedicated to SRI - profits or not
IPE asked three pension funds – in Belgium, Denmark and Austria – the same question: ‘Do you do SRI and if so how and does it give a good return?’ Here are their answers:
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Features
Rise and rise of private equity fees
Partnership structures fees and other compensation systems may have to be reviewed given the rapid expansion of private equity in recent years. John Barber reports
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Features
Euro-swapping to be optimised
Swedish insurers can benchmark more effectively by using euro swaps, argue Mark van Maaren and Jan-Willem Wijkmans
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Features
Swiss learn to love alternatives
The pension funds in Switzerland have overcome their natural reserve and are taking to the new opportunities – still with some reservations, says Gail Moss
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Features
The politics of portability
At a recent EPPF meeting, the EC’s portability proposals drew fire from almost all quarters, Daniel Brooksbank reports
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Features
Encompassing a multitude
To regard EMD as a single asset class is wrong, particularly now the rise of local currency debt is now such a major factor when investing. Joseph Mariathasan reports
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Features
Factoring ageing into pensions
Pension funds have already taken account of the problems of ageing, according to the Netherlands’ largest pension fund. Yet policymakers are arguing for later retirement or taxes on pensioners. Leen Preesman reports on the growing controversy
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Features
Taking different approaches to the management of assets
Large Dutch pension funds are more active on financial markets in managing their financial position, whereas smaller institutions and company-linked funds are more likely to adjust the level of pension contributions to prevent under funding, Jan Kakes reveals
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Features
Time to call in the professionals
The Bureau Bosch survey of Dutch investment managers reveals a dramatic move towards the external management of pension funds assets, largely as a result of the new financial assessment framework. Frits Bosch analyses the findings of the survey
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Features
Co-operation is the way forward
As accounting rules tighten, more legislation is introduced and investment becomes more complex, a growing number of Dutch pension funds are contracting out their asset management and administration. Two leading providers of pension fund management services – Cordares and Mn Services – have responded to these developments by pooling their expertise. Leen Preesman and David White talk to the architects of this alliance
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Features
Large funds equals lower costs
Jacob Bikker and Jan de Dreu find evidence that the bigger a pension fund, the lower its administrative costs are likely to be, reinforcing the case for mergers between Dutch funds and a move towards industry-wide schemes
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Features
Hedge funds - assets or asset strippers?
Are hedge funds really locusts stripping Dutch companies of their assets or are they a source of rich returns to the pension funds that invest in them. Leen Preesman reports on an increasingly acrimonious debate between Dutch unions and pension funds
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Features
How the indexation label works
Parliament has decided that a new indexation label will be added to all pensions statements in the Netherlands to tell scheme participants about the purchasing power of their entitlements. Theo Nijman, Bas Werker and Peter de Goeij consider the draft version
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Features
Pensions open for outsourcing
In the current regulatory and accounting environment in Holland, outsourcing is an idea whose time has come. AZL, a leading Dutch provider of pension fund management services, explains its plans to Cyril Widdershoven
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Features
Trade unions try another tactic
With solidarity weakening, and the young growing suspicious of the pensions wealth of the old, Dutch trade unions are adopting new tactics to win new members, says Alfred Kool
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Special Report
SRI-boot now on bond foot?
The issue of applying SRI/ESG criteria to debt is surfacing, but there are questions as to how to go about about it. Rachel Fixsen investigates
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Special Report
The perils of divestment
Pension funds in Europe have always sought to screen out irresponsible businesses, says Shayla Walmsley, but drawing the line has never easy and double standards abound
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Features
Back to school
It is residential that is closer to commercial posing as hospitality. No wonder student accommodation is attracting so much attention. But pension funds are reticent, as Shayla Walmsley reports
