Markets – Page 237
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Germany’s Babcock Pensionskasse removes CEO
GERMANY - Babcock Pensionskasse, the €460m pension fund of failed engineering firm Babcock, has stripped chief executive Günter Schulze of his responsibilities, sources say.
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Deutsche hires firm for DeAM sale - report
GERMANY/UK - Deutsche Asset Management in the UK has declined comment on a newspaper report indicating that the investment bank Hawkpoint has been hired to explore its possible sale.
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Nordea loses €1.3bn in institutional assets
SWEDEN – Nordea says it lost a total of €1.3bn of institutional assets under management in the fourth quarter of 2004 – hit by industry consolidation.
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Study slams companies' 'insider-trustees'
UK – A new academic study has found evidence that company-nominated trustees at UK defined benefit pension schemes act in the interest of shareholders, not the pension fund.
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Finland’s Varma earns 8% return in 2004
FINLAND – Varma, Finland’s largest private sector pension insurer, made an eight percent return on investments in 2004 - but said it would continue to “rationalise” its operations.
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German dentists hire Alpha as consultant
GERMANY - VZB, a Berlin-based pension fund for dentists, says it has hired Alpha Portfolio Advisors as its new investment consultant for its €700m portfolio.
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UK’s PPF could be a “new arena of conflict”
UK – Consulting firm Towers Perrin has warned that the UK’s new Pension Protection Fund could usher in a “new arena of conflict” between employers and scheme members.
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ING loses 10% of institutional assets in revamp
NETHERLANDS – ING’s asset management arm lost €13.8bn, or more than 10%, of its institutional assets under management in the last three months of 2004 - due to the reclassification of assets and a disposal.
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AP1 and AP3 both return 11.4%
SWEDEN – Both AP1 and AP3 say they returned 11.4% on their investments in 2004.
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Enel's Fopen looks for new managers
ITALY – Fopen, the €360m pension scheme of the partly privatised state energy and gas producer Enel, has put out a request for tenders for its new 90% bond portfolio.
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DeAM, SSGA, BGI lose Shropshire mandates
UK – Deutsche Asset Management, State Street Global Advisers and Barclays Global Investors have lost equity mandates worth a combined £160m (€231m) after a shake-up at Shropshire County Council Pension Fund.
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Putnam’s investment head Oristaglio retires
US - Steve Oristaglio is to retire as head of investments at Putnam Investments and be replaced by his deputy Kevin Cronin.
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Ex-Isis institutional chief joins boutique
UK - Howard Daldorph, the former director of institutional funds for ISIS, has joined a boutique called Reabourne Technology Investment Management as marketing director, a new role.
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ING IM Europe to avoid UK, for now - Kemna
SWITZERLAND - ING Investment Management Europe is not prepared to enter the UK market at the moment because its regulations are too complicated, says chief executive Angelien Kemna.
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KLM’s three schemes return 10.7%-12.3%
NETHERLANDS – Airline KLM’s three pension funds – worth a combined €9.2bn - returned between 10.7% and 12.3% in 2004.
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Dutch central bank confirms FTK on schedule
NETHERLANDS – The Dutch central bank has reaffirmed that the FTK, the new financial assessment framework for pension schemes, will come in as planned on January 1 2006.
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Ireland’s NPRF to put 18% into new asset classes
IRELAND – The €11.69bn National Pensions Reserve Fund has targeted an 18% allocation to property, private equity and commodities by 2009 – but it will not invest in hedge funds for the moment.
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Rabobank says swaps may ease Dutch FTK impact
NETHERLANDS – Rabobank says the new Dutch FTK, or financial assessment framework, will have a “marked impact” on Dutch pension schemes’ investment policy – and that a swap overlay strategy could be a solution.
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JP Morgan to hire new UK institutional staff
UK - JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management says it is looking to hire new staff in the UK this year amid a 13% growth in assets under management.
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UBS says institutional business almost doubles
SWITZERLAND –UBS said its Global Asset Management arm reported a pre-tax profit increase of 64% in 2004 and that institutional business almost doubled.
