Latest – Page 255
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Market volatility 'unlikely to drive buyouts'
[17:05 CET 17-03] UK – Market volatility has prompted 44% of trustees to consider transferring pension scheme risk, but consultants have warned timing is “key” so it is unlikely this will transfer into business for the bulk annuity market this year.
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Habitat appoints SEI as fiduciary manager
[16:55 CET 17-03] UK – SEI has been appointed as the fiduciary manager to the £24m (€26m) Habitat UK Pension and Life Assurance Plan.
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Norway places Siemens under 'observation'
[17:15 CET 16-03] NORWAY – The Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global pension fund has excluded a Chinese company for selling military trucks to Burma and is monitoring Siemens over concerns of "gross corruption".
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PADA mulls target date approach as default
[17:05 CET 16-03] UK – The use of target date funds as the default for the personal accounts system is a “serious proposition” to be put forward in an investment consultation from the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) later this year.
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Pension funds consider valuation date shift
[16:45 CET 16-03] UK – Pension funds might be able to improve their pension funding valuations by a fraction if they shift the exact date on they assess all of their assets each year away from popular target dates in December and March.
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Pensioners work longer for incentives - APG
[16:25 CET 16-03] NETHERLANDS - APG Group has presented evidence suggesting pension funds’ participants will work for almost 18 months more than they originally planned before retiring if they are incentivised to do so.
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Dutch schemes lost €86bn in Q4
[16:10 CET 13-03] NETHERLANDS - Dutch pension funds’ combined investments in equity and fixed income decreased by 19% to €529bn during the fourth quarter of 2008, according to De Nederlandsche Bank.
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LGIM picks up East Sussex mandate
[16:50 CET 12-03] UK - East Sussex County Council has appointed Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) to run a specialist £275m (€295m) passive UK equity mandate.
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AP3 forced to admit shortcomings in risk management
[17:10 CET 11-03] SWEDEN - The third Swedish national pension fund, AP3, has admitted it lacked the capacity to deal with the financial crisis as returns on assets fell sharply last year to create a 18.8% net loss.
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Norway opts for equities to combat negative bond returns
[17:00 CET 11-03] NORWAY – The Norway Government Pension Fund – Global has been forced to review its short-term investment strategy following the worst results in the scheme’s history.
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John Lewis sees leap in DB scheme demand
[16:20 CET 11-03] UK – John Lewis Partnership, the high street chain, saw over 11,000 employees, or ‘partners’ as they are known within the firm, join its defined benefit last year when the terms were changed to open further access.
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FI flags potential risk control issues
[15:40 CET 11-03] SWEDEN – Swedish occupational pension funds generally have no large holdings of complex financial instruments, although in a few cases the Finansinspektionen (FI) has highlighted possible deficiencies in related risk control functions.
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Fidelity loses Tyne & Wear's UK mandate
[17:15 CET 10-03] UK – The £3bn (€3.25bn) Tyne & Wear Pension Fund has confirmed it terminated its UK equity mandate with Fidelity at the end of last year.
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Crisis forces pensions measures back to gilts
[16:55 CET 09-03] UK – Hewitt Associates has conducted a study of 50 pension fund clients which suggests all will in future base their defined benefit funding assumptions on a gilts-based measure, even though it could increase liabilities by up to 30%.
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EC admits 'pensions are not immune to crisis'
[16:25 CET 09-03] EUROPE – European pension funds have not suffered during the ongoing economic crisis in the same way as other financial institutions, according to the European Commission, but defined benefit schemes in particular are likely to see “challenges” as they struggle to pull back their funding balances.
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Local authorities hold over €1bn in Icelandic banks
[17:05 CET 06-03] UK – Local authorities in England have reported investments totalling £923.2m (€1.03bn) in Icelandic banks at the end of 2008, some of which may have been held on behalf of pension funds.
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2012 contributions may be less than expected
[16:55 CET 06-03] UK – Watson Wyatt has warned workers auto-enrolled into occupational schemes after 2012 could have an “exaggerated impression” of the size of their pension as typical minimum contribution rates into qualifying pension schemes will never be more than 6.8% of gross earnings.
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NewsGerman pension vehicles to diversify - Mercer
[16:45 CET 06-03] GERMANY – Retirement providers in Germany are likely to maintain one of the lowest equity exposures in Europe as a result of recent market turbulence but will continue to diversify into other strategies, consultancy Mercer has told IPE.
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Committee to screen schemes’ investment policy - Donner
[16:00 CET 06-03] NETHERLANDS - Social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner will establish an independent committee to find out whether the investment policy of pension funds has landed them in their precarious financial position following the credit crisis.
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Etera drops €1bn in 2008
[14:00 CET 06-03] FINLAND – Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company saw its market share fall to 5.6% in 2008 and has reported an overall loss of €1.03bn following a negative investment performance.
