Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 691
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Features
Looking for some breathing space
Pension funds are quite different from other institutional investors because of their long term liabilities. This was the robust and unequivocal response from readers to this months survey. This may seem a statement of the obvious, but increasingly, regulator and accounting bodies appear to want to squeeze pension funds into ...
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Features
Battle to manage new system
The most discussed issue in the Austrian market during the past few months has been the future of the Abfertigung neu, the reformed severance payment system that is expected to have a huge impact on the development of the country’s corporate pensions market. Under the current system, employers set aside ...
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Features
Resisting the European trend
Belgium has been in the spotlight of the European pension fund industry since it decided not to back the EU directive on occupational pensions, presented for approval in Spain last June. This decision did not come as a surprise. The Belgians want the directive to include more restrictions on pension ...
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Features
Small market, foreign focus
The small size of the domestic equity market has forced investors to invest more abroad, mainly in the Euro-zone; less than 5% of total assets are invested in Belgian equities. The small size of the average Belgium pension fund and tax benefits have encouraged the use of investment funds, with ...
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Features
Radical reforms support third pillar
Luxembourg’s government has taken a step forward in developing the country’s retirement system affecting both the first- and third-pillar pensions. In July the government announced radical measures to reform the state pension that aim to provide higher basic pensions and incentives to retire later. Under the new legal framework the ...
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Features
Big investors on red alert
As a consequence of poor investment returns in the equity markets, Danish pension funds are reconsidering their approach to investment. The most recent example is the Danish labour market supplementary first-pillar pension scheme, ATP, which at the end of August announced an important shift from equities into bonds. The fund, ...
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Features
Watsons to publish data
Watson Wyatt is following the lead of rival consultant Mercer Human Resource Consulting with publication next January of data on performance of the managers it recommends. The consultants will publish data on theoretical portfolios, divided along various asset classes and run by those managers recommended. Head of European investment consulting ...
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Features
Alternatives manager
PGGM, the e47bn pension fund for the health care and social work sector, has promoted its head of real estate Jan van der Vlist to oversee its alternative investments. The Dutch fund recently brought real estate, private equity investments, mortgages and absolute return funds under one umbrella and renamed them ...
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Features
Pension assets fall
Assets held by the world’s largest 300 pension funds fell by 12% according to research by consultant Watson Wyatt and Pensions & Investments. Assets of the largest 300 funds totalled $5.43trn (E5.5trn) last year compared with $6.17trn at the end of 2000. The drop is in sharp contrast to growth ...
