Latest – Page 258

  • News

    Co-operative could provide pensions solace – Santing

    2009-02-09T15:35:00Z

    [16:35 CET 09-02] NETHERLANDS – Dutch pension funds should join forces as co-operatives to prevent being forced further into short-term thinking, according to Gerald Santing, former director of the Netherlands Authority of the Financial Markets (AFM).

  • News

    Merseyside admin contract awarded to Heywood

    2009-02-06T15:25:00Z

    [16:25 CET 06-02] UK – The £3.7bn (€4.2bn) Merseyside Pension Fund has appointed Heywood to provide pension administration and payroll services.

  • News

    Measure to show the shape of corporate pensions

    2009-02-04T16:20:00Z

    [17:20 CET 04-02] UK – Consulting firm Hymans Robertson has unveiled what it hopes will become a recognised ‘safe’ method for assessing pensions risk to a company’s financial status.

  • News

    Pensions Board updates DB funding standard rules

    2009-02-04T14:45:00Z

    [15:45 CET 04-02] IRELAND – The Irish Pensions Board has issued revised guidelines for pension schemes wanting to extend recovery periods for scheme funding past 10 years.

  • News

    Global pension assets drop 18% in 2008

    2009-02-03T15:30:00Z

    [16:30 CET 03-02] GLOBAL – Economic conditions have resulted in the largest annual decline in global pension fund assets “for many years”, as the total value of pension pots fell 18% in 2008 to $25trn (€19.6trn), according to research from International Financial Services London (IFSL).

  • News

    Pension funds expect hedge fund losses

    2009-02-03T13:00:00Z

    [14:00 CET 03-02] EUROPE - Almost three quarters of surveyed pension funds expect to see a negative net-of-fee performance of more than 5% on their hedge fund investments for 2008, suggests IPE research.

  • News

    Merseyside reviews £320m unconstrained bonds

    2009-02-02T15:40:00Z

    [16:40 CET 02-02] UK – Merseyside pension scheme has issued a tender notice for two fixed income managers to run unconstrained sterling broad market mandates equivalent to 8% of the fund’s assets.

  • News

    French reserve fund loses a quarter

    2009-02-02T15:20:00Z

    [16:20 CET 02-02] FRANCE - The Fonds de reserve pour les retraites (FRR) has revealed its assets decline by 24.8% during 2008.

  • News

    Consumer body rallies against recovery plan delay

    2009-02-02T14:45:00Z

    [15:45 CET 02-02] NETHERLANDS – Consumentenbond, the large Dutch consumers’ lobbying organisation, has spoken out against calls for a more generous recovery period for underfunded pension funds.

  • News

    Unite agree Ineos deal as sights turn to Selex

    2009-01-30T15:50:00Z

    [16:50 CET 30-01] UK – Unite the Union has confirmed the pensions dispute with INEOS over planned changes to the defined benefit (DB) pension scheme is at an end after revised proposals, such as the scheme remaining open to new entrants, were accepted by members.

  • News

    Merseyside tenders for transition manager panel

    2009-01-30T15:05:00Z

    [16:05 CET 30-01] UK – Merseyside Pension Fund has issued a tender to establish a framework list of transition managers who would aid the movement of assets between investment managers following strategy changes.

  • News

    ABP bleak on recovery prospects

    2009-01-29T15:50:00Z

    [16:50 CET 29-01] NETHERLANDS – ABP, the largest Dutch pension fund which today revealed its assets had dropped by €44bn in 2008 to €173bn, has warned signs of a structural recovery on the equity markets are scarce.

  • News

    Funds blame bulk of decline on interest rates

    2009-01-29T15:40:00Z

    [16:40 CET 29-01] NETHERLANDS – Major pension funds have argued up to two-thirds of the decline in their cover ratios, which now hover between 85% and 100%, was because of the steep drop in interest rates.

  • News

    L&G wins buy-in as new AUM drops 39%

    2009-01-29T15:00:00Z

    [16:00 CET 29-01] UK – The Press Association Pension Fund has completed a £60m (€65m) 'buy-in' of its pensioner liabilities with Legal & General (L&G) at the same time as the insurer revealed its gross new funds under management dropped 39% to £33.1bn in 2008.

  • News

    Hewitt replaces Watson as Powys adviser

    2009-01-29T14:30:00Z

    [15:30 CET 29-01] UK/IRELAND – Powys County Council has appointed Hewitt Associates as the investment adviser for its £280m (€305m) local government pension scheme (LGPS).

  • News

    CIPFA outlines changes to LGPS investments

    2009-01-28T15:30:00Z

    [16:30 CET 28-01] UK – The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has recommended investment regulations for Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) should be "clarified and simplified", by replacing investment limits with a series of "requirements".

  • News

    Scheme costs drop 4.7% as buyouts increase

    2009-01-28T15:10:00Z

    [16:10 CET 28-01] UK – Pension scheme expenditure on pension benefits fell by 4.7% in 2007, the first significant decrease since 1984, and a move which the Office of National Statistics (ONS) attributes to an increase in pension buyouts.

  • News

    One in four plans up mortality assumptions

    2009-01-27T15:30:00Z

    [16:30 CET 27-01] UK – More than a quarter of UK pension schemes are planning to switch to a long cohort mortality projection for their mortality assumptions, potentially increasing life expectancy by almost two years, suggests research from Mercer.

  • News

    Progress to sell property for unlisted strategy (UPDATED)

    2009-01-27T15:15:00Z

    [16:15 CET 17-01 NETHERLANDS - The Dutch pension fund of food giant Unilever, will sell its entire Dutch direct property portfolio and switch its real estate investment strategy to unlisted international real estate funds.

  • News

    West Sussex reappoints UBS to multi-asset role

    2009-01-27T15:00:00Z

    [16:00 CET 27-01] UK – West Sussex County Council has reappointed UBS Asset Management to run an active, balanced multi-asset mandate for its local government pension scheme (LGPS).