Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 630
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Features
Conservative in approach
Private pensions are still a young industry in central and east European (CEE) countries, but differing legislation has produced a range of investment strategies, reports a survey* produced by FI-AD Financial Advisory of Budapest. The survey, sponsored by East-West Management Institute of Vienna, used its own and the standard Organisation ...
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Special Report
Down with pension silos
Peter Drucker was in town recently. Well, at least electronically, as at a ripe 93 years of age, the world-renowned business philosopher doesn’t fly anymore. He was the final speaker in a series on ‘integrative thinking’ at the University of Toronto. Drucker observed that in both higher business education, and ...
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Features
Re-engineering of plans under way
How is it possible to cut pension costs yet at the same time to remain attractive to employees? This is the conundrum faced by American employers. There is no ‘sure’ answer. What is certain is that the great majority of US pension fund sponsors are changing their benefit strategy. According ...
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Features
Luxembourg plants its acorns
Almost five years ago, Luxembourg passed the legislation that created three new types of international pension vehicle. The Loi RCP of June 1999 enabled the creation of the Sepcav, an open-ended pension plan which operates like a DC plan in the US, and the Assep, which is similar to a ...
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Features
Nexans linked 'by principles'
Just over a century since the creation of the Société Française des Câbles Électriques (1897), a pioneer in the world of electric cables, the firm began the 21st century in a new incarnation as Nexans, following a spin off from the Alcatel group (where it was the Alcatel Cable arm) ...
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Features
Why networks pack with extra punch
As companies become increasingly global in their outlook, it makes sense to coordinate employee benefits programmes, taking into account custom and practice in each territory and utilising benefit practices such as global pooling and benchmarking. Which is how global consulting networks of actuarial and employee benefits professionals have a role ...
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Features
Coming into their own
International consultancies are gaining confidence in the German market. For years they have relied on joint ventures with the well-established local firms to get a foothold in the country. But now the larger global firms are stepping out on their own – sure that they have exactly what clients need ...
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Features
Keeping on top of technology
Most pension funds acknowledge the importance of technology to their business, whether they install applications in-house or outsource their requirements. However, technology is not a one-time decision like choosing an office or organisational logo. The questions then arise of how often a fund should review its technology, how it should ...
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Features
'All-weather' manager
Dexia Asset Management believes it is well down the road of being a major player on the European market. In just a few years and during one of the most cathartic periods ever in asset management, a group with formidable European credentials has been created, it claims. Following the acquisition ...
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Features
Actions on CAs at last
Automation, standardisation, harmonisation: these are not terms commonly associated with the vexed business of corporate actions processing. Efforts to improve levels of straight-through processing and the quality of reference data have been high on the industry’s agenda in recent years – except when it comes to corporate actions. Fraught with ...
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Features
Promised land draws nearer
State Street says it still has “work to do” on integrating the Global Securities Services business it bought a year ago – but insists the integration was going well. “We still have work to do in Europe, where client conversions are currently underway,” said chairman and chief executive David Spina. ...
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Features
Ready for a shake-out
In the world of equities, much of the complexity of risk assessment and management has been simplified through the development of capitalisation-weighted indices and the spectacular growth of indexed funds on the back of this. At first sight, it appears a straightforward extension to apply the same approach to the ...
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Features
Care and attention deliver dividends
The index gives the investment manager an essential reference point. It is a prime way in which the pension scheme instructs the fund manager what risks to take, whether the prime worry is losing money in nominal terms next month, or protecting the scheme against inflation, or maximising the long ...
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Features
Keeping track of users' demands
The world of benchmark indices and index providers has changed significantly over the past few years as investors have required new products and more competitive services. The traditional business of providing pure benchmark indices for asset managers to use as a performance measurement tool has typically ceased to be a ...
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Features
All for one and one for all?
This month’s Off The Record considers the issue of solidarity. Many pension schemes in Europe rely on current contributions to pay for the benefit of pensioners now in the expectation that the succeeding generation will help them in their turn. A joint report by the EC and the European Council ...
