Markets – Page 271
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ABP shrinks in size by 7% to e135.5bn
NETHERLANDS – Hit by falling stock markets, Europe’s largest pension fund, the Dutch civil servants’ ABP, has posted a 7.2% decline in its capital value to 135.5 billion euros – though it sees no reason to change its investment strategy.
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Pioneer to enter Bulgarian market
BULGARIA – Unicredito's Pioneer Investments is to become the first foreign fund manager to launch products in Bulgaria.
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Martin Currie wins e190m Edinburgh mandate
UK – The 1.7 billion pound City of Edinburgh Lothian Pension Fund has replaced Deutsche Asset Management and ISIS with Martin Currie as manager of a 125 million pound (189.7 million euro) specialist UK equity mandate.
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AP2 appoints 13 external managers
SWEDEN - The 13.6 billion euro second Swedish national pension fund, AP2, has appointed what it calls a “network” of 13 external investment managers in 14 separate equity sectors – though no agreements about size of mandates has yet been reached.
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Watson says global pension assets decline 12%
GLOBAL – Watson Wyatt says global institutional pension fund assets fell by 12% to 1.4 trillion dollars in 2002, leaving many pension funds in the “difficult predicament” of facing pressure to get their balance sheets back in shape.
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Former MLIM managers launch UK fund firm
UK – A group of former fund managers at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers have launched a new specialist fund management company, Majedie Asset Management, to focus on the management of UK equities for pension funds and charities.
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Credit Suisse unveils six new funds
UK – Credit Suisse Asset Management has launched six new funds to add to its range of pooled pension funds, and an investor OEIC comprising an initial nine sub funds.
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Italy’s Fondogommaplastica tenders two mandates
ITALY – The new pension scheme for workers in the rubber, plastic and electric cable industry in Italy, Fondogommaplastica, has put out to tender two mandates for its 20 to 30 million euro fund.
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Benelux corporate fund tenders e35m in mandates
EUROPE – A Benelux-based corporate pension fund has put out to tender the mandates for a 17.5 million euro North America mid-cap growth fund, and a 17.5 million euro Japan mid-cap growth fund, through IPE-Quest.com.
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Standard Life sees low inflation, low bond yields
GLOBAL – The rising global dependency ratio in the developed world will continue to encourage low inflation and low bond yields, says fund manager Standard Life Investments.
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F&C Management's 2002 profits rise 20% to e47m
UK - F&C Management, the tenth largest manager of European pension fund assets, says its pre-tax profits for 2002 will rise 20% to 47 million euros – despite a 5% decline in revenues.
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Sweden’s AP3 taps CoreRatings for SRI
SWEDEN – The 13.9 billion euro AP Fonden 3 Swedish pension fund says it has hired consultancy firm CoreRatings to provide socially-responsible investing advice, adding that it will take an active role in the companies in which it invests.
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Threadneedle to run e155m Russell equity mandate
UK - Threadneedle Asset Management has been appointed to run a 100 million pound (155 million euro) UK equity mandate for Frank Russell Co.
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SPK to invest e31m in Scottish Widows’ SRI fund
SWEDEN – Sweden’s 1.2 billion euro Sparinstitutens Pensionskassa pension fund will invest 31 million euros in Scottish Widows’ Investment Partnership’s European socially responsible investment fund.
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Deutsche segregates e3.6bn in pension obligations
GERMANY - Deutsche Bank has segregated 3.6 billion euros of its German employee pension obligations, removing them from the balance sheet and creating a separate fund that will be managed by Deutsche Asset Management.
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Watson advises clients away from equities
EUROPE – Pension consultancy firm Watson Wyatt says it is advising its clients to move away from equities and that it knows of “very few” firms that invest in accordance with best practice.
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Merrill Lynch loses $543m Calpers bond mandate
US – The 128 billion dollar California Public Employees' Retirement System, Calpers, has dropped Merrill Lynch Investment Managers from its international fixed income manager line-up. MLIM had been managing a 543 million dollar portfolio, accounting for 8.73% of Calpers’ entire fixed income portfolio.
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Guru tells pension funds: bear market to persist
UK - The current bear market is likely to last until 2005 at least, one of the US’s most prominent investment strategists told pension fund managers and their advisers today.
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AP4 awards e384m Japan mandate to Martin Currie
SWEDEN – Fjarde AP-Fonden, the 13.4 billion euro Swedish state pension fund, has named three managers for Japan and Asia-Pacific equities mandates – Martin Currie, Capital and APS.
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Britannic Asset Mgmt to cut one in eight jobs
UK – Glasgow-based Britannic Asset Management is to lose 12.5% of its staff in a bid to cut costs. Cuts will be across the board, with estimates of 40 redundancies in total.
