Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 551
-
Features
A new practical instrument for duration management
Over the last two years an enormous amount of papers, articles and views have been produced, ever since the plans for the new Dutch financial risk framework (nFTK) for pension funds were revealed. They have focussed on every imaginable aspect of the proposed new framework, from asset and liability management, ...
-
Features
How passion becomes performance
The appetite of Dutch investors for real estate opportunities is growing thanks to excellent, stable long-term returns and changes in regulation. We estimate domestic demand could rise by €10bn over the next few years. On top of this, investors from the USA and Germany are now also taking an interest ...
-
Special Report
Integrating 'extra financial' elements into portfo
Pioneer in Europe in the area of sustainable and responsible investment (SRI), Dexia Asset Management intends to best fulfil the demands of investors who are increasingly sensitive to the challenges of sustainable development. In this respect, the dedicated SRI team was recently strengthened significantly. Over the past 10 years, ...
-
Features
Unleashing Dutch dynamism
Unlike the Dutch landscape, private equity activity in the Netherlands has been anything but flat. According to the European Venture Capital Association (EVCA), in 2004 the level of investment in Dutch private equity and venture capital rose significantly. This is confirmed by Tjarda Molenaar, director of the Netherlands National Association ...
-
Features
Showing the way in Europe
Compared with institutional investors in other countries, Dutch institutions are very receptive to investing in private equity and the largest pension funds in the Netherlands have been investing in private equity for some time, with ABP and PPGM investing in the asset class since 1996 and 1990 respectively. ABP has ...
-
Features
Solidarity between generations
Communication between pension funds to their members is the best way of keeping the collective solidarity between the generations in an ageing population. “Communication and information of the pension funds to their members is paramount,” stated social affairs’ minister Aart Jan de Geus speaking at the ABP Rendez-vous. “It ...
-
Features
Actuaries' split personalities
Once upon a time, actuaries lived in an ivory tower, where they pored over complicated mathematical valuations…and they invariably came up with incontrovertible, well-founded and faultless opinions. They towered above the parties, influenced by no one, not even by their bosses. From time to time they explained to everyone who ...
-
Special Report
Why we need whistleblowers
Keith Ambachtsheer, a pensions guru on both sides of the Atlantic, has a different slant on what can make defined benefit schemes sustainable long term. Speaking recently in the US to a conference of teacher retirement plans, he told delegates: “You need a whistleblower.” Toronto-based Ambachtsheer, who acts as a ...
-
Features
Ready for take off
Toine van der Stee, who took over as managing director of Blue Sky Group recently, is a relative new comer to the pension sector and appears very upbeat about current developments. “I always make a comparison between the pension sector and other financial sectors in the Netherlands,” he says “Some ...
-
Features
Earmarked for early retirement
The new Dutch ‘levensloop’, the new life course, scheme - designed to encourage later retirement - will probably have to be adjusted within five years. Too many workers want to use it for early retirement, instead of a sabbatical or care leave. Benne van Popta, chairman of the Association of ...
-
Features
More coming custodians' way
The new regulatory framework for the Dutch market, Financieel Toetsingskader (nFTK), has provided a rich seam of business for Kas Bank, the Dutch custody, clearing and settlement specialist. In the first half of 2005 to 30 June, the bank recorded a 30% rise in net profit to €9m, while total ...
-
Features
Delaying the inevitable?
Under the current actuarial rulings (APP), pension funds are allowed to use interest rates up to a maximum of 4% to discount liability streams. This has to be done in a prudent fashion. Specifically the words ‘maximum’ and ‘prudent’ seem to be ignored quite regularly, as it is almost a ...
-
Features
Taking the next big step
Developing from a pension fund into a fully-fledged commercial tiger does not happen overnight. Mn Services in Rijswijk knows all about it. Until 2001 Mn Services was an integral part of the Pension Fund for Metalworking and Mechanical Engineering. Four years ago Mn Services ‘broke loose’ from its parent and ...
-
Features
Eumedion widens its scope
The Dutch Foundation of Corporate Governance Research for Pension Funds, or SCGOP, has changed its name and plans to widen its membership. The newly named Eumedion will now be open to insurers and asset managers. There will also be a change of management. At a recent annual meeting, it was ...
