Carolyn Bandel
NewsManagement fees predicted to shift downwards
[17:00 CET 20-02] GLOBAL – Pension consultant Mercer predicts asset managers will show greater willingness to negotiate fees downwards this year and beyond, under pressure from the economic downturn.
NewsScheme seeks high yield US debt manager
[16:55 CET 20-02] NETHERLANDS – A Dutch pension fund is looking for an external managers to manage a $100m (€79.3m) USA high yield debt mandate, using IPE Quest.
NewsHermes to unveil new governance charter
[16:55 CET 20-02] UK – BT pension fund-owned Hermes Equity Ownership Services (EOS) is about to launch its rewritten corporate governance charter – ‘The Hermes Principles’ – later this month, IPE has learnt.
NewsPPF succumbs to pressure for levy deferral
[16:50 CET 20-02] UK – The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) today confirmed it may allow companies to defer risk-based levy payments if they are struggling, after a week of pressure form industry bodies.
NewsDutch government eyes more recovery time
[16:50 CET 20-02] NETHERLANDS – Piet Hein Donner, the Dutch pensions minister, is today expected to tell the Dutch cabinet pension funds should be granted a recovery period of five instead of three years, IPE understands.
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NewsBelgian funds lost 25% in 2008 – Mercer
BELGIUM – Belgian pension funds delivered median returns of minus 25,2% over the year 2008, according to pension consultant Mercer’s Brussels office
NewsFrench supreme court acts on pensions rebates (amended)
[17:10 CET 19-02] NETHERLANDS – Dutch pension funds are set to receive a dividend tax refund from the French tax office, matching a similar ruling issued in the Netherlands for European schemes last month.
NewsFund managers lighten up on economy
[17:10 19-02] GLOBAL – Investors are at their most hopeful about the year ahead since the credit crunch took hold in July 2007, according to the latest fund manager survey by asset manager Merrill Lynch.
NewsChapter 11 Sea Containers supports UK funds
[15:55 CET 18-02] UK – Sea Containers has said it has made financial support arrangements for two of its UK group pension schemes, as part of the company’s attempt to exit its Chapter 11 proceedings.
NewsWednesday people roundup
[14:23 CET 18-02] GLOBAL – Mercer, Mineworkers' Pension Scheme, tPR, Insight Investment, GAD, LaSalle, Aon, Fortis, Dalriada, Schroders, Investment Solutions.
NewsDutch Merchant Navy signs administrator
[16:30 CET 17-02] NETHERLANDS – The €3bn occupational pension fund for the Dutch merchant navy (Bedrijfspensioenfonds voor de Koopvaardij) has appointed its fiduciary manager Mn Services to also act as its pension administrator.
NewsMore scaling back at loss-making Aegon
[16:15 CET 17-02] NETHERLANDS – Dutch life insurance, pensions and investments giant Aegon today revealed the firm lost €1.2bn in Q4 2008 and is now planning redundancies.
News2008 was a bad year for pressured hedge funds
[15:15 CET 17-02] GLOBAL – Almost all hedge fund strategies posted their worst losses in 2008, according to a report by French business school Edhec.
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.
NewsTNT fund in the red
[16:55 CET 16-02] NETHERLANDS – The pension fund of Dutch postal firm TNT has become the latest scheme to blame falling interest rates for much of its new underfunded status.
NewsPension consultants plead for levy amnesty
[16:50 CET 16-02] UK – The UK Society of Pension Consultants has claimed the UK government should grant pension schemes of companies which are in financial distress temporary amnesty from PPF levies, to enable corporate sponsors to continue their defined benefit scheme.
NewsPPF guides trustees on entering lifeboat scheme
[16:00 CET 12-02] UK – As more pension scheme sponsors threaten to go bust, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has published guidance to help trustees through the UK lifeboat scheme’s assessment period.
NewsClimate change impacts asset allocation – CDP
[15:45 CET 12-02] GLOBAL – The majority of institutional investors now factor climate change information into their investment decisions and asset allocation, according to research by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
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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.
NewsHarbour workers ask judge to replace Optas board
[16:45 CET 11-02] NETHERLANDS – The representative body of the Dutch harbour workers (SBPVH) has today launched a lawsuit against the board of Optas through a court in The Hague.
