Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 653
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Features
Westside story
Direct or indirect? Perhaps not as lofty a question as Hamlet’s “To be or not to be?” but decision makers at US pension plans, endowments and foundations face serious choices in making real estate allocations between indirect investment vehicles and traditional direct investments. A few members of the Pension Real ...
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Features
How investors play the markets
With the dire performance of equities over the last few years universally-acknowledged, is it time to consider alternative assets more carefully? This article briefly examines the composition of European property markets, the returns delivered by these investments, and investors’ recent allocation decisions within the property sector. It concludes with a ...
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Features
New sense of realism
2003 was the year when pensions came out on to the streets. While it was by no means the first time in countries such as France that the state had been brought to a halt by public outcry over retirement reforms, other countries such as Austria – where thousands paraded ...
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Features
Reforms provoke heated debate
Pensions have been a hot topic in Austria during the past few months. Both the public and private pensions sectors have undergone more or less unwelcome reforms and it seems the months to come will continue to add more ingredients to the pensions debate. In May, thousands of Austrians took ...
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Features
Waiting game
For three years in a row, Belgian pension funds have started the year with news of disappointing investment returns and discussions regarding the future of the country’s pension industry. Added to this the debate regarding the introduction of the European Pensions Directive hasn’t gone unnoticed, although all agree that the ...
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Features
Still stressed
The Danish pension fund market has been dominated in the past few years by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority’s (DFSA) introduction of colour-coded stress tests to assess the financial strength of life insurers and pensions institutions. The DFSA’s so-called ‘traffic light’ system works on two scenarios: a ‘red light’ under ...
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Features
Taking more control
2002 was the year asset liability management became the hot topic in Finland in the light of difficult markets and the need to meet tight solvency regulations. While the investment trends that became apparent at the time of the euro introduction – the shift to equities and increased foreign exposure ...
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Features
A difficult year
For those following the developments in the pensions market in France, 2003 is proving a very difficult year. After months of strikes against the government’s plans to reform the retirement system, the new pensions bill was officially adopted by the French Parliament last month. The most controversial proposal included in ...
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Features
Facing realities
One of the most significant changes to have occurred in the last year in Germany was the proposed cut of the interest guarantee offered by some Pensionskassen from 3.25% to 2.75% at the beginning of next year. Many Pensionskassen have struggled to come anywhere close to their interest guarantees and ...
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Features
Great expectations
Iceland’s unique geographical position in Europe mirrors its somewhat idiosyncratic approach to pension provision. The country has privatised its pension system more comprehensively than any other Nordic state, with a fully funded second pillar of private and public occupational pension schemes. The country currently spends only 2% of GDP on ...
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Features
Holds no fears
Like their UK and Dutch counterparts, Irish pension funds worried about the potential of a proscriptive pan-European Pensions Directive laying down rules where previously the prudent person pension fund management principle had worked well for decades. However, in a speech concerning the practical implications of the directive for Ireland, Anne ...
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Features
Slow progress awaits reforms
Since the law regarding the creation of new pension funds in Italy came into force in 1993 the market has been developing slowly. A significant number of new pension funds are now fully operational but assets and subscribers are still low. However, 2002 was a good year for the consolidation ...
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Features
Opportunity or trap?
Fears in the Netherlands that some of the early drafts of the pan-European Pensions Directive – particularly where it mentioned quantitative investment restrictions – could have impacted seriously on Europe’s second largest pension market were allayed by the final adopted version. This took great pains not to restrict any of ...
