Metalektro returns 4.2% in first quarter

NETHERLANDS - The 14 billion-euro pension fund for the Dutch metals industry, Bedrijfstakpensioenfonds voor de Metalektro or PME, made a 4.2% return on investments in the first quarter.

The Schiphol-based fund added that its coverage ratio has now risen to 112%, from 109% at the end of 2003

The fund added that its obligatory payment to the pension and insurance industry regulator the PVK has risen by around 70% to 1.1 million euros in 2003. It called for the PVK to limit its supervisory role.

The fund, which returned 13% in 2003, is in the process of cutting its equities allocation to 30%. It has already put give percent of its portfolio, or around 700 million euros, into commodities. It says that because commodities are loosely correlated with other asset classes, that they reduce the risk profile of the whole fund.

In January the fund appointed Isis Asset Management to manage a voting and socially responsible overlay programme.