All IPE articles in May 2009 (Online) – Page 2
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News
DAX pensions lose €13bn in 2008
[17:10 CEST 06-05] GERMANY – The pension schemes of companies listed on the German stock exchange index Dax remain well-funded over the long-term despite suffering a combined loss of €13bn last year, consulting firm Mercer has found.
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Berkshire adopts new due diligence policy
[17:15 CEST 06-05] UK – The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has implemented a new due diligence policy relating to the external managers of the £1.05bn (€1.19bn) Berkshire pension fund, in response to "a number of scandals during 2008".
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Ombudsman criticises gov't over Eq Life response
[17:20 CEST 06-05] UK – The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has warned the UK government's 'alternative' proposal to make ex-gratia payments to members of Equitable Life who suffered "disproportionate impact" of losses will not remedy the injustice resulting from maladministration.
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VER loses 2.4% in Q1
[17:25 CEST 06-05] FINLAND – Valtion Eläkerahasto, the State Pension Fund, generated a return of -2.4% in the first quarter of this year, reducing the value of its investments to €10.16bn.
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Interest rate decline hits SPP’s Q1 return
[16:10 CEST 07-05] SWEDEN - SPP Livförsäkring AB, the Swedish pensions provider owned by Storebrand, saw its sales increase by 33% during the first quarter of this year but the firm still generated a negative return of SEK647m (€61.7m), according to its latest results.
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GBF signs new pensions head
[16:25 CEST 07-05] NETHERLANDS – Dr. Ronald Ketellapper will become the new director of pensions at Grafische Bedrijfsfondsen from 1 June, the investment and administration operation behind the €8.5bn industry-wide pension fund for the printing and publishing industry.
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US pension funds selected to lead RBS action
[16:40 CEST 07-05] GLOBAL – Two major US pension funds have been appointed as lead plaintiffs in a class action against UK-headquartered banking group RBS, ahead of European pension funds who had also hoped to pursue the firm for alleged false disclosure of its true financial status.
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FRR suffers further 6.5% loss
[16:55 CEST 07-05] FRANCE – FRR, the French national pension fund, saw its value fall by another 6.5% in the first three months of this year, leaving the body with the legacy of a negative return against the five-year period it has been operating.
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Budget forces rethink on pension plans
[17:00 CEST 07-05] UK – Planned reductions in higher rate tax relief on pension contributions have caused nearly 60% those in charge of pension schemes to rethink existing pension projects, according to Hewitt Associates.
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PADA initiates discussion on investment
[17:05 CEST 07-05] UK - The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) has issued a discussion paper to help inform its trustee corporation of its thoughts on investment strategy, and which includes thinking on corporate governance and responsible investing.
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MPs say 'abolish' default retirement age
[17:10 CEST 07-05] UK – Members of Parliament (MPs) serving on the Work and Pensions Committee have recommended regulation allowing a statutory default retirement age of 65 be abolished - a move which contradicts the government's recent defence in a legal action brought by ageing population charities.
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Romania to look at pension reserve fund and life-cycling (updated)
ROMANIA – Pension fund companies in Romania will soon have to pay into a general reserve fund and they are likely to introduce the life-cycle model in their funds from 2010, according to the pensions regulator.
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Study: big not always beautiful for pensions
[16:15 CEST 08-05] NETHERLANDS - It is generally accepted that small pension funds perform less well than their bigger brothers, but economies of scale can also work the other way around, suggests a new study conducted in the Netherlands.
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News
Cover ratios pull up to 100%
[16:30 CEST 08-05] NETHERLANDS - The cover ratio of the Netherlands’ 650 pension funds seems to be stabilising at approximately 100% on average, consultancy firm Hewitt Associates has claimed.
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News
Swaps should be favoured over gilts – F&C
[16:55 CEST 08-05] UK – Pensions funds are being warned to tread carefully at present when deciding whether to hedge their liabilities against UK gilts, as the huge level of government borrowing is likely to mean yields will need to rise in the short-term to attract borrowers.
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Personal accounts to 'soft launch' in 2011
[17:00 CEST 08-05] UK – Personal accounts will begin its roll out in the second quarter of 2011 to a small number of volunteers, according to the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA).
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News
Highland pension unable to exclude tobacco
[17:05 CEST 08-05] UK – The Highland Council has been warned that attempts to exclude investments from the £801.7m (€897.8m) pension scheme on ethical grounds would be unlawful and could lead to the council being forced to make up any shortfall to the scheme.
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News
Gov't publishes trivial commutation rules
[17:10 CEST 08-05] UK – The government has today published regulations allowing pension scheme members to commute occupational pension funds of less than £2,000 (€2,233), even if they have larger pension savings elsewhere.
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Swiss home bias pays off long-term
[17:20 CEST 08-05] SWITZERLAND – Only Swiss bonds and Swiss real estate contributed positively to the performance of local pension funds last year but Swiss assets are a major contributor to long-term performance, a study by Lusenti has found.
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News
Bankpension posts net loss of 19.7%
[17:25 CEST 08-05] DENMARK – Bankpension, the pension fund for employees in the Danish financial sector, has reported an “extremely unsatisfactory” result of -23.1% before tax in 2008.
