Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 530
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Features
Germany's Aba warns of DC risks
Germany’s occupational pensions association Aba has come out against the proliferation of defined contribution plans in Germany, arguing that DC creates new risks for employers and is ineffective. Although German occupational pension schemes have traditionally been defined benefit in nature, many companies are switching to DC. Prominent examples include steel ...
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Features
Closing days of DB schemes
Spiralling costs, regulatory obligations and longevity are among the critical factors putting final salary pension schemes on the proverbial chopping block. Recently, the £2.4bn (€3.5bn) ScottishPower pension fund joined the ranks of Rentokil, Philip Green’s Arcadia retail group and the Co-operative Group, after proposing to shut the doors of its ...
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Features
For all the right reasons
When the French Fonds de Reserve pour les Retraites (FRR) launched a manager selection process for its private equity programme last December, it was embarking on the next stage of an ambitious strategy which may well form a blueprint for other first-time investors in this asset class. The FRR, a ...
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Features
Funds end 2005 on strong note
All strategies except for CTA global exceeded their long-term average performance in December. Convertible arbitrage was the only strategy to end the year with a negative cumulative performance. Interestingly, the average performance of the hedge fund industry, proxied by the performance of the Edhec funds of funds index, was almost ...
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Features
FoF take-off
Funds of funds had a terrific run in November, confirming market sentiment about the technical correction witnessed in October (and consequently, a dip in returns) – that it is of a short-term nature. The lowered risk appetites seen in October were visibly buoyed by robust economic data, moderate inflation in ...
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Features
Making AA more dynamic
Trustees are familiar with the world of triennial actuarial valuations, and the accompanying review of contribution rates and investment strategy. Typically, time would be allocated to consider the investment strategy (strategic asset allocation, or policy portfolio) in order to ‘get it right’. It would then be fixed for three years, ...
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Features
Mission impossible?
Advocates of the so-called 26th regime structure for pan-European pension structure have been seeking to clarify its core benefits in the face of heightened sceptism from the European Commission and market participants. In December, the European Financial Services Round Table (EFR), one of the biggest voices calling for pan-European Pension ...
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Features
Risk now the magic word
Erik van Ballegooijen resigned as the director of the pension fund of TNO technical research institute in Delft, Netherlands, at the beginning of this year What was your first full-time job – and do you remember what you were paid at the time? My first job was as a ...
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Features
Anatomy of satisfaction
Fonchim, the €4.5bn industrywide pension fund for Italy’s chemical and pharmaceutical industry workers, has been one of the most successful of the new complementary pension funds at recruiting members. The fund has attracted 116,000 members, 60% of its potential membership, since it was launched in 1999. This is far higher ...
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Features
Rules trigger CTA boom
To the delight of Germany’s asset management industry, the much-anticipated boom in corporate pensions finally happened last year. And as 2006 begins, it shows no signs of slowing. Interestingly, the type of boom is not what one would normally expect. While corporate pensions have spread dramatically since historic pension reforms ...
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Features
A question of mindset?
As a junior actuarial student in 1991, I recall watching a role-play of an actuary and a lawyer in court. The lawyer was cross-examining the actuary, focusing on the fact that the actuary was advising both the trustees and the employer, without apparently drawing any distinction between the two. Fifteen ...
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Features
An awkward customer
In a world of increasing demand for investment solutions based around liability driven benchmarks, how do global bond portfolios fit in? Historically, as Paul Abberley, head of fixed income at ABN AMRO Asset Management points out, “global bonds have always been problematic as an asset class in an optimisation framework. ...
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Features
Why convergence is taking place
There are an increasing number of similarities between the strategies used by managers of alternative investments and those employed by private equity managers. Alternative investment assets under management are estimated at one trillion dollars and spread over 8,000 funds, while the private equity industry manages only $150bn (e124bn), distributed among ...
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Features
Germany plans inflation-linked bond issue
German pension funds have been reflecting on the news that Germany plans to issue its first-ever inflation-linked bonds in the near future. The government’s treasurer, Finanzagentur, has confirmed the plans. It did not say when the bonds would be sold, only that the government had empowered it to do so ...
