Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 567
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Features
Pioneers can pay a price
Sweden is known for its pioneering approach to pension provision. It introduced member choice of investment in its state Premium Pension defined contribution pension scheme, and make asset and liability modelling obligatory for its Allmänna Pensionsfonden (AP), the funds that back the government’s pay-as-you-go scheme. Such innovations depend upon modern ...
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Features
Chickens come home to roost
In late 1993 the Croatian government instituted an economic stabilisation programme that was extraordinarily successful in curbing hyperinflation. But it led indirectly to the creation of a pension debt that delayed the introduction of a second and third pillar and more than a decade later threatens the country’s fiscal stability ...
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Features
The eye of CEIOPS
Ahead of the 23 September deadline for the implementation of European occupational retirement provision (IORP), directive the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) has published a discussion paper on the role of supervisory co-operation in facilitating membership of cross-border pension funds. Europe has a wide diversity of ...
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Features
A step in the right direction
Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI), the asset management arm of Chicago-based banking company Northern Trust, is among the top three players worldwide in three fields: securities lending - which it regards as part of its investment management business - passive management, and manager of managers. Of NTGI’s e466bn in assets ...
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Special Report
Who's for governance?
Corporate governance has been on the agenda for many years, but for most pension schemes the attention has been focused on the governance of the companies in which they invest rather than the governance of the pension fund itself. Now, however, pension schemes and their governing boards are being subject ...
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Features
Over a barrel
The world has become accustomed to increased crude oil prices in recent years. But while most oil analysts ascribe the major price upsets to factors inherent to the crude oil market, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has put part of the blame on the speculative role of pension ...
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Features
Risk exposure stalls growth
As can be seen from table 1, the main hedge fund strategies all fell short of their long-term average performance in March. Three of the five strategies, namely convertible arbitrage, long/short equity and event driven, even posted negative returns. These disappointing returns might be explained by the exposure of hedge ...
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Features
Belgium starts to warm up
As a nation, Belgium comes way down the list of private equity investors in Europe. In 2003, the latest year for which figures are available, private equity investments equalled only 0.1% of gross domestic product, according to the European Venture Capital Association. That was less than half the European average ...
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Features
Pensions reforms back on track
Few countries need pension reforms as badly as Russia. The majority of the country’s 40m pensioners live in dire poverty, and this population is increasing as a result of increasing longevity. Pensions reforms, however, have had a mixed response, from both the public and providers. Their complexity has raised questions ...
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Features
Mushrooming demand
Demand for currency management and overlay has ballooned in the last two years as investors embrace it as an alterative source of return. As currency managers tune their services to the needs of pension funds and other institutions, the future of the sector is beginning to take shape. Currency overlay ...
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Features
Securing the family fortune
Barbara von Gartzen of Family Estate Services (FES) in Luxembourg says: “Attitudes towards wealth management have changed significantly. Until a few years ago, most high net worth individuals have been looking after their wealth mainly by themselves.” Nowadays, managing the wealth of a family has become a highly complex and ...
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Features
The turning of the screw
Would you be willing to lock up investments for your grandchildren to use in 50 years time if the return was going to be fixed at 4.21% annually for the total period? The answer for most people would be obviously no. Yet the French treasury issued e6bn of 50 year ...
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Features
Learn to manage demand side
Since the beginning of the last decade, the difference in macro-economic performance between Europe and the US has been striking. With the exception of the very end of the 1990s, the Euro-zone countries have had sub-par growth, while in the US growth has remained solid, except between 2000-2001. If one ...
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Special Report
Investors take LTRI initiative
The last five years have seen a sea change in investment beliefs and practices. Previously those who might have raised concerns about market short-termism would have been dismissed as ideologically motivated critics, and those who favoured SRI, as having other agendas. While passionate defenders of the status quo have not ...
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Features
Sharing and caring
Currently, employers bear the investment risk in defined benefit (DB) pension plans while employees bear the risk in defined contribution (DC) type plans. Recent equity market performance, longevity risk and the impact of international accounting rules have persuaded many employers to introduce a DC alternative to their DB plans. This ...
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Features
Ensuring good performance
Performance and risk analysis have gone a long way since the dark ages of investment, when returns were measured in rather raw form, while risk was hardly measured at all. These days, pension plan trustees are enlightened by slick performance reports, including hundreds of statistics, thoroughly calculated and well-presented with ...
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Features
The eternal triangle
The pension problem is simple: a question of assets, liabilities and the difference between them - an asset or liability. Risk is mostly simply and generally defined as the rate of change of an object. The rate of change of an asset’s value, its risk, we know by the term ...
