Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 726
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Features
German pensions and the 'average' pensioner
Within the scope of the German pension reform (the “Riester-Rente”, named after labour minister Walter Riester) there will be a reduction of the state pension from 70% to 67% of the last net income after a complete career. The gap will be filled by additional tax relief for private savings ...
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Features
The outlook for private equity
Only a few months ago, European venture capitalists were becoming increasingly gloomy about the prospect of an economic upturn. The starkest evidence was provided in August in the UK in Deloitte & Touche’s third-quarter Private Equity Confidence Survey. Of the 770 venture capitalists surveyed, 80% of respondents expected the UK ...
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Features
European funds' wider horizons
Continental European pension funds are poised to shrink their domestic allocations still further in favour of European assets over the next three years, according to new research we have carried out. These results are based on replies from 184 pension funds in 11 countries, including the UK, with assets under ...
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Features
Troubled times for allocation
High volatility stress tests a strategic asset allocation. The dispersion of returns across managers will likely be wider and the dispersion of returns across the peer group against which the plan sponsor is judged will also likely be wider. Other events associated with high-risk environments greatly increase the chance of ...
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Features
Come out from behind that benchmark!
This month’s Off The Record was hastily rearranged to pull together your views on the recent out-of-court settlement reached between the Unilever Superannuation Fund (USF) and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM), in one of Europe’s most high-profile financial court cases in years. We wanted to know what you thought the ...
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Features
International operators gear up
Across Europe consultants have fared very differently in the past year. Common to almost every country are many similar themes- the shift from DB to DC, companies appreciating the potential risks of their schemes, the question of how to react to falling stock markets and dwindling state provision- and above ...
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Features
Germany still an elusive target
Germany’s decision to pass it long overdue pensions reform will prove a real boon to the consultants market and Mercers’ Jacques Goulet believes the German market will draw a lot of attention thanks to the changes. Historically companies with an emphasis on actuarial services like Heissman and Heubeck market have ...
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Features
More accountability for UK consultants
Alan Botterill’s claim that the Myners report is just one part of the jigsaw, is a sentiment shared by every other consultant interviewed by IPE. They agree that 2001 was frantically busy and a year in which the industry faced an unprecedented number of changes. It’s not just the Myners ...
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Features
Crossing the boundaries
The European market for pension fund consultants is effectively two markets - a mature and an immature market. In UK the Netherlands and Ireland, where their role is well understood, consultants are firmly entrenched. Elsewhere in continental Europe, however, consultants are far less established. This has created opportunities for continental ...
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Features
US fiduciary outsourcing gains ground
Downsizing, spin-offs, changes in management: many reasons can lead a company to decide to outsource the complete management of their pension plans. An increasing number of US companies are following this path, but it is difficult to assess the size of the “fiduciary outsourcing” business in the US, because the ...
