Markets – Page 192
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News
Czech funds meet need for positive return
CZECH REPUBLIC – Only two funds in the Czech Republic private pension sector managed to generate a return above 1% last year, but all at least delivered positive performance as the other eight just scrapped the zero mark.
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A quarter of Pensionskassen are under 90%-funded
[17:05 CET 19-02] SWITZERLAND – Consultant Swisscanto has discovered the average funding level of Swiss Pensionskassen had deteriorated to 94.4% by the end of 2008 and the buffer funds have all but dried up.
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Expert demands state hand-outs for Pensionskassen
[16:05 CET 18-02] AUSTRIA – Austrian pension expert Johannes Rudda would like to see the federal state put money into Pensionskassen with employers being another possible source for financial aid.
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UNJSPF lost quarter of its value in 2008
[16:00 CET 17-02] GLOBAL – The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) lost over $10bn (€7.8bn), around a quarter of its fund value, to end 2008 at $31.37bn.
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NewsFunds review diversification and management
[17:00 CET 16-02] GLOBAL – Opinion polls suggest pension fund managers globally are questioning the use of diversification, just as funds are re-evaluating their investment management policy.
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NewsShareholders vote against Fortis deal
[16:55 CET 11-02] NETHERLANDS – Shareholders of the Belgian-Dutch bancassurer Fortis today voted against the sale of Fortis to the Belgian government and the French bank BNP Paribas.
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Actively-managed assets underperformed - Hewitt
[16:15 CET 10-02] NETHERLANDS - Most actively-managed assets underperformed last year because of the additional costs charged over passive strategies, Hewitt Associates has suggested.
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Bonds save severance funds falls
[16:50 CET 05-02] AUSTRIA – Mandatory severance pay funds posted a negative return of -1.8% for 2008, which could have been worse had it not been for their large bond exposure.
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Auditors force repricing of IAS19 discount rate
[15:30 CET 05-02] UK – Corporate executives are being put under pressure by auditors to reprice their apparent pension liabilities to more realistic levels, in light of the huge shift in recent months in corporate bond yields.
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Global pension assets drop 18% in 2008
[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).
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Merseyside reviews £320m unconstrained bonds
[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.
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ABP bleak on recovery prospects
[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.
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State fund to boost economy through corporate debt
[16:20 CET 28-01] FINLAND – The ministry of finance is to allow the State Pension Fund VER to purchase commercial paper in “significant and solid Finnish companies” as part of a series of proposals to help boost the Finnish financial markets.
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News
Risk not rewarded in the medium-term
[15:00 CET 27-01] SWITZERLAND – Risk in Pensionskassen portfolios has not been rewarded over a longer period, Credit Suisse has claimed, while State Street has calculated pensionskassen saw an average 2008 return of -16.83%.
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Caution urged on bonds as BoE considers purchase
[16:40 CET 26-01] EUROPE - A move by the Bank of England to buy corporate bond debt could be enough to kick start liquidity in the sector again but there are now concerns about the huge investor interest in the sector, claim officials at Standard Life Investments (SLI).
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Danish investors to award $300m debt mandate
[16:30 CET 26-01] DENMARK – A Danish financial institution is looking for a manager to look after a $300m (€232m) hard currency debt mandate in global emerging markets, using IPE Quest.
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2008 volatility hits more Finnish funds
[16:20 CET 23-01] FINLAND – Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company has reported a €1.2bn fall in the value of its assets in 2008, according to preliminary figures while Eläke-Fennia saw a negative return of 12% and VER suffered further to lose 15% last year.
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Swiss institution seeks Japanese equities
[15:45 CET 22-01] SWITZERLAND – An institutional investor based in Switzerland is searching for a manager for a $75m (€58m) Japanese equities mandate, using IPE Quest.
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Pensions funds opt to raise TRS collateral
[12:00 CET 22-01] EUROPE – Pensions funds are likely to be paying slightly higher for passive investments since the collapse of Lehman Brothers if using synthethic replication, but are choosing to do by over-collateralising their total return swaps, according to officials at Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
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NewsFRR appoints BGI for equities
[16:25 CET 21-01] FRANCE – FRR, the €33bn French national pension reserve fund, has tapped Barclays Global Investors (BGI) for a €1bn European equities mandate.
