Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 713
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Features
Employers lead the flight to defined contribution
The move into defined contribution schemes in Austria had been driven almost entirely by the desire of businesses to remove their pension fund liabilities from their balance sheets. Until 1990 all occupational pension schemes in Austria were book reserve schemes. During the 1970s this created the problem of hidden liabilities ...
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Features
Individual investment choice under discussion
Employees of Austrian companies have two routes into defined contribution (DC) schemes: through an insurance contract or through a pensions fund contract. Before the introduction of the Pensionskassen system in 1990, the insurance route was the only one open to an employee. The employer takes out what is effectively a ...
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Features
Good decisions need freedom
Continental European pension fund managers have more confidence in their pension fund boards and investment committees than UK counterparts have in their trustees. This was one of the findings to emerge from the Global Asset Study conference organised by benefits consultants Watson Wyatt in Brussels last month. In an electronic ...
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Features
'Sweet spot in Europe'
Indexed asset management worldwide was given its annual work-out in Barcelona at the World Cup of Indexing, organised by IMN, and was found to be in good shape, despite the assault of poor equity markets. The development of indexing in Europe was put in context by Massoud Mussavian of Goldman ...
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Features
Large value focus
Every month in IPE we analyse the portfolio style of a fund using the return-based portfolio analyser developed by London-based firm Style Research. This month we have chosen the DIT-Dresdner US Equity fund, managed by Dresdner International Management Services in Dublin. The graph shows the changes in style the fund ...
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Features
How group control helps local plans
Many multinationals have built up pension arrangements that can become complex when they are consolidated at group level. These frequently contain a mixture of defined benefit and defined contribution schemes. They may be invested directly or indirectly – for example, through insurance policies or investment funds – and may have ...
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Features
Change is in the air
Employee benefits are among the most significant costs to an organisation after salaries. They are also probably the element of the reward programme that differs the most across Europe as differences in legislation, tax, social security and culture have given rise to vastly different benefit environments. However, these diverse environments ...
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Features
DC gives more flexibility in Norway
Historically, retirement plans in Norway have been predominantly defined benefit but legislation that came into effect on 1 January 2001 now permits tax qualified defined contribution plans. One of the stated goals for this new law is to encourage pension provision for the 1m or so Norweigan workers without any ...
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Features
Grasping the retirement age nettle
Many companies and their employees have begun to realise over the last few years that pensions have become increasingly expensive to provide. The answer of most corporate employers has either been to increase contributions and/or to reduce benefits. But there is another solution which really requires action from governments and ...
