Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 583
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Features
IAS19 impact on employee benefits disclosure
On 16 December 2004, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published an amendment to IAS19. All EU-listed companies must comply with IAS19 (as amended) for accounting periods starting on or after 1 January 2005. Other EU companies may be required to adopt IAS19, or may be allowed to continue with ...
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Features
Now for the difficult bit
The Pension Fund Directive must be implemented in EU national laws by 23 September 2005. Its gestation was tortured and long – about 12 years – reflecting the considerable difficulties involved in obtaining agreement on the scope: what was included, and, equally significantly, what was not. The directive deals with ...
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Features
Technology's pivotal role
German pension funds face a range of challenges depending on the organisations and members they serve, and the pressures upon them to adjust to the current market environment. Technology plays a key role in enabling them to operate more efficiently, manage their investments with greater sophistication and meet members needs. ...
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Features
Trouble at the top
Last December Ireland’s asset management industry was rocked by the sixth defection from Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) to Autralian financial services group Perpetual Trustees. BIAM was still reeling from the initial shock of the first four departures in October; now concerns regarding the bank’s ability to maintain its ...
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Features
Dress rehearsal for Europe's pensions
As a centre for servicing investment funds, Ireland –or more precisely the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin – has been growing at a rapid rate. In the past year, according to London-based funds industry analyst Fitzrovia International, domiciled net assets in the Irish funds industry grew by more than ...
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Features
Irish funds venture shy
Since the go-go eighties, Ireland has been punching above its weight in cultivating a profile as a home of technological innovation. In 2003, private equity funds invested in Ireland totalled e255m. This represented 0.194% of the country’s GDP, and one of the highest percentages in Europe, higher than Germany, Belgium ...
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Features
Reserve fund takes first steps
The National Pensions Reserve Fund was set up in 2002 to act as a cushion against some of the expected growth in future liabilities of Ireland’s state and civil service pension arrangements. Its purpose is to act as a demographic equalisation fund, helping to redress potential underfunding which may arise ...
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Features
A schizophrenic market
Perhaps one of the striking aspects of investing in European equities five years after the introduction of the euro, is the continued ambiguity of what a European mandate should represent. It is rather as if when considering an American mandate, the choice included mandates for the US excluding Texas as ...
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Features
New fashion balanced
The progressive move by pension funds from balanced to specialist management has been one of the dominant trends in the asset management industry over the past 10 years. The process, which began in the US, has extended to Europe and now seems irreversible. The main reason for the move is ...
