Markets – Page 184

  • News

    Union finds corporate bond Spezialfonds in demand

    2009-07-21T15:15:00Z

    [16:15 CEST 21-07] GERMANY – Frankfurt-based Union Investment saw net inflows of €3.8bn in the first half of 2009.

  • News

    Liechtenstein Sozialfonds to enhance risk taking

    2009-07-21T13:20:00Z

    [14:20 CEST 21-07] LIECHTENSTEIN – The largest pensionskasse in the small principality of Liechtenstein, the ‘Sozialfonds’, says it is strong enough to take on longevity and other demographic risks itself.

  • News

    Slovak funds down amid 'dramatic changes'

    2009-07-17T14:15:00Z

    SLOVAKIA – The six funds in the Slovak mandatory second pillar posted negative returns for the second quarter of this year, halving the six-months’ performance just as a new bill introduced structural changes.

  • News

    Unusual market conditions sparked RSA longevity deal

    2009-07-16T14:45:00Z

    [15:45 CEST 16-07] UK – The defined benefit pension schemes of Royal & Sun Alliance would likely have been unable to protect their pensioner liabilities with a gilt swap and longevity insurance deal completed earlier this week if market conditions had not thrown the fixed income market into array, suggest ...

  • News

    Austrian pensionskassen back on positive ground

    2009-07-13T15:35:00Z

    [16:35 CEST 13-07] AUSTRIA – The second quarter brought a major shift into positive territory for Austrian pensionskassen with a return of 3.74%.

  • British Steel's internal team seeks Asia Pacific equity expert
    News

    British Steel's internal team seeks Asia Pacific equity expert

    2009-07-10T15:45:00Z

    [16:45 CEST 10-07] UK – The £9.8bn (€11.4bn) British Steel Pension Fund is looking to strengthen its internal investment team with the appointment of an Asia Pacific equity manager.

  • Cardiff seeks emerging markets manager
    News

    Cardiff seeks emerging markets manager

    2009-07-07T16:20:00Z

    [17:20 CEST 08-07] UK - Cardiff County Council is seeking an emerging markets equity manager to run a specialist portfolio for the Cardiff & Vale of Glamorgan Pension fund.

  • News

    Germany’s largest pensionskasse returns 4.5%

    2009-06-29T15:35:00Z

    [16:35 CEST 29-06] GERMANY – The €20.1bn BVV Pensionskasse for banks will grant its members 4.5% interest for 2008 as it achieved a positive portfolio return last year.

  • News

    Investment tide turning towards Japan?

    2009-06-26T12:30:00Z

    [13:30 CEST 26-06] GLOBAL - Fund managers and investors are turning their attention to the Japanese equity market again as some officials claim the economic downturn means larger Japanese firms may be better equipped to meet the pressures than in other countries.

  • News

    Islington awards UK bonds mandate

    2009-06-24T15:50:00Z

    [16:50 CEST 24-06] UK – Islington Council has appointed Standard Life Investments to run a UK active bond mandate worth up to £150m (€175m) to its local government pension fund.

  • News

    European investors display manager search activity

    2009-06-23T15:45:00Z

    [16:45 CEST 23-06] EUROPE – Three institutional investors, including two continental European pension funds, are looking to hire asset managers for specialist equity mandates, using IPE Quest.

  • News

    Balanced pension funds pull back short-term gains

    2009-06-23T15:25:00Z

    [16:25 CEST 23-06] UK – There is now evidence of improvement to three-year equity returns to pension fund assets, as the latest BNY Mellon CAPS pooled pension fund figures show, in the main, assets have continued to recover.

  • News

    Economist warns pensions should not contain equities

    2009-06-22T13:00:00Z

    [14:00 CEST 22-06] AUSTRIA – Investing in equities is unsuitable for pension fund investment, according to Helmut Kramer, the former head of Austria’s economic research centre Wifo.

  • News

    FRR lowers equity holding in strategic review

    2009-06-19T15:55:00Z

    [16:55 CEST 19-06] FRANCE – FRR, the French national pension fund, has completed its strategic asset allocation review and effectively split equities and bonds holdings as well as introduce new standards on the level of returns and volatility set.

  • Czech funds survive stress test, for now
    News

    Czech funds survive stress test, for now

    2009-06-17T16:15:00Z

    CZECH REPUBLIC – All Czech pension funds have passed a stress test by the country’s national bank (CNB) but the results show major weaknesses should interest rate levels climb steeply.

  • Victoria to increase activity in corporate bonds
    News

    Victoria to increase activity in corporate bonds

    2009-06-15T16:00:00Z

    [17:00 CEST 15-06] AUSTRIA – The €500m Victoria-Volksbanken Pensionskasse intends to raise its exposure to corporate bonds.

  • News

    Work develops to grow environmental ETFs

    2009-06-15T15:20:00Z

    [16:20 CEST 15-06] GLOBAL – FTSE Group has launched a fresh series of classifications and support tools which are designed to help investors identify companies providing environmental technolofy products and services, which could soon lead to the growth of environmental-focused ETFs.

  • News

    Pensions funds buy back into equities

    2009-06-12T15:00:00Z

    [16:00 CEST 12-06] NETHERLANDS – Dutch pension funds invested over €21bn in securities again in the first quarter of this year, though the bulk of that money headed for bonds and the purchase of equities did not offset losses, figures from the pensions regulator have revealed.

  • Big was not beautiful for private equity in 2008
    News

    Big was not beautiful for private equity in 2008

    2009-06-11T15:40:00Z

    [16:40 CEST 11-06] EUROPE – Investment in European private equity fell last year, according to the European Venture Capital Association but there was capital growth and an increase in smaller equity-centric buyouts – a trend apparently ongoing as Aberdeen’s private equity team has bought out its private equity arm.

  • News

    PIMCO unveils GDP-based debt strategy

    2009-06-11T15:00:00Z

    [16:00 CEST 11-06] GLOBAL – PIMCO has launched a new concept in fixed income investing which is said to provide an improved measure of credit market beta by shifting away from market cap weightings and adopting a variety of credit vehicles to deliver counter-cyclical rebalancing.