Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 676
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Features
Sinking under weight of words
The European Council of Ministers adopted its so-called “common position” on the pensions directive on November 5 last year. The 43-page document is currently going through its second reading at the European Parliament. While parliament mulls over the document this winter, it is helpful to examine exactly what the Council ...
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Features
Fund managers up in arms
To say that the German government’s tax initiatives have not been well-received is to put it mildly. Just three months after being narrowly re-elected, the German government has managed to slip 22 percentage points behind the opposition in opinion polls following a series of proposed tax reforms. But the German ...
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Features
Waiting for the big switch
We implement tactical asset allocation strategy as a total-return overlay that enhances strategic portfolio returns. Short-term asset prices are more influenced by ‘sentiment’ than by ‘fair value’. Our approach is to identify fundamental trends not fully reflected in the market consensus today. This means looking for existing imbalances that need ...
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Features
Muddle through scenario
Every one of our investment decisions – from the strategic allocation of assets between equities and fixed-income securities to the choice of individual securities – is based on a combination of macro and micro economic information. When assessing macro-economic trends, we attach great importance to the information we receive on ...
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Features
Drag factors on recovery
With the continued threat of war in the Middle East hanging over the markets stalling a full-scale recovery, analysts agree that Europe’s equity markets still can’t find real stability, despite some relatively good trading recently and the ECB’s larger than expected 50 basis point interest rate cut. Many predict that ...
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Features
Get ready for replays
The European Central Bank may have cut interest rates five times in 2002, but the market opinion is that “it’s not over till Wim Duisenberg sings”. Over the 12 month period, the ECB slashed the interest rate by 2% – the last cut arriving in December – but market participants ...
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Features
Off the floor
With the FTSE 100 index poised to push up through key resistance levels, sentiment in the London equities market has brightened. But strategists are not holding their breath. Share prices in the UK are unlikely to make any lasting upside progress just yet. The fact that prices have come off ...
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Features
Towards point of convergence
Asset management in the central and east European (CEE) states has been booming as solid growth leads to more disposable income. The eight CEE states set for EU membership in May 2004 – Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia – are all recording growth higher than ...
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Features
Gearing up for pensions
Asset management in the Baltic states is a mixed scene, ranging from investment funds and private pensions in Estonia and Latvia to negligible retail activity in Lithuania. In Lithuania, tax complications have so far prevented the establishment of local investment funds. Meanwhile the private pensions market will only start operating ...
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Features
Capital markets
While developed economy stock markets suffered losses, the exchanges in central and eastern Europe have put in an impressive performance. As of late November stock prices in dollar terms had risen by 32% year to date in Hungary and 24% in the Czech Republic. Even Poland, which had seen poor ...
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Features
Effects of convergence
One of the effects of EU convergence has been a convergence of the stock markets of eastern and western Europe. CEE stock markets are approaching their western peers in terms of correlation, according to Helmut Pfeffer, stocks analyst at Raiffeissen Zentralbank (RZB) in Vienna. Three CEE stock markets – the ...
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Features
Candidates line up for inspection
In May 2004, eight countries are scheduled to join the enlarged European Union, representing the largest expansion of the union, in terms of scope and diversity, in its history. The countries include the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia. All of the countries have been preparing for ...
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Features
Alecta's never-ending story
Alecta is the largest manager of occupational pension assets in the Nordic region, with more than SEK 300bn (E33.3bn) under management. Formerly known as SPP (Sveriges Privatanställdas Pensionskassa) Alecta re-branded itself following a decision in 2000 to sell off all business activities that were open to competition in the market ...
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Features
Costs driving flight from DB
Historically, defined benefit (DB) rather than defined contribution (DC) has been the commonest type of occupational pension in the UK. It is still the dominant plan type. The latest benefit design survey by consultant Watson Wyatt found that 58% of the occupational schemes surveyed were DB while only 23% were ...
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Features
Time to share risks
One factor which could slow the flow from DB to traditional DC schemes is the growing interest in hybrid pension plans in the UK. Actuaries Lane Clark Peacock point out in their annual survey, ‘Accounting for Pensions’, that traditional final salary DB schemes and occupational DC schemes represent extremes of ...
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Features
Why a wake-up call is needed
The perception in the UK that a defined contribution pension (DC) plan is a ‘second best’ occupational pension has grown chiefly because of the low level of employer contributions. Employers contribute significantly less to DC schemes than to defined benefit (DB) schemes. The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) annual ...
