Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 565
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Features
Steady as she goes in the Midwest
The investment market in North America was nothing less than astounding in 2004 and a competitive buying environment combined with low interest rates has fuelled that trend in 2005 so far. Foreign investors have always had the US on their radar screens, but the investment environment in recent years has ...
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Special Report
Hungary comes of age
As market forces took hold across the former eastern bloc following the collapse of communism, the emergence of a thin layer of very wealthy individuals was one of the most visible, and disturbing developments. How can a system of supposed equality give way to such apparent inequality? Is it the ...
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Special Report
Getting to the point
Pictet has been developing tools to assess companies’ SRI credentials since 1997. The problem, it seems, is that much of the information provided by companies under examination is incomplete. “Very often a company will put together a sustainability report but it will only show what it wants to show,” says ...
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Features
Oil for extra virgin wheels
Italy’s new defined contribution (DC) schemes have got off to a slow start. Having become operational only a few years ago, assets under management of the industry-specific contrattuali - literally contractual, or closed - schemes were just short of E6bn at the end of September, with just over a million ...
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Features
Effect of reforms uncertain
Recent reforms of investment and pension laws in Italy could open up the market to foreign investment managers and custodians. Italy has been a relatively closed shop for securities services providers and a strong universal banking model has enabled the local banks to dominate provision of both custody and asset ...
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Features
Mounting concerns over workforce size
The EU issued some worrying population projections for the next 50 years, with a view to updating pension expenditure forecasts in the EU25. Also, the European Federation for Retirement Provision (EFRP) told the Commission that its push to eliminate tax discrimination of pension funds was moving ahead too slowly. The ...
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Features
Volatility at the short end
Although the European Central Bank (ECB) may not have changed official interest rates since the half-point cut back in June 2003, that does not mean to imply interest rates at the short end have also remained unchanged. TheECB may be controlling and setting the very short-term rate - via its ...
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Features
No longer plain cooking
Dutch pension fund giant PGGM does not hold cash as a strategic asset class. However the fund holds a substantial cash position, says Marc Nuijten, head of treasury and overlay management at the Dutch pension fund. “This is partly due to the fact that the fund has an allocation to ...
