All IPE articles in November 2008 (Magazine)
View all stories from this issue.
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FeaturesFunds keep their heads above the water
Norway’s financial sector has been buffeted but pension funds look to stay afloat, finds George Coats
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FeaturesGreen lights all the way?
Despite Danish banking scares, the local pension funds were unscathed by the financial troubles – at least until earlier this year. Brendan Maton explains why
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Special ReportAllocation at a time of crisis
Iceland’s pension fund sector has undergone considerable consolidation over recent years. “The funds were formed at the insistence of the trade unions and initially there were nearly 100 of them as each union wanted to have its own fund,” says Hrafn Magnusson, (pictured right) managing director of National Association of ...
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Special Report
Home or away?
Who should manage your money? Many of our readers have successfully managed their own portfolios for years and remain happy to continue doing so. We sought your opinions on the value of doing it yourself as opposed to outsourcing.
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FeaturesFour-year marathon to bring back the prize
The Arkitekternas Pensionkassa has until 2012 to convince its newer members that it is a better home for their ITP savings than the big players such as Alecta or Skandia. Managing director Maritha Lindberg tells Brendan Maton how the fund plans to do it
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Special Report
The dog that didn’t bark
The failure of a court case arising from the collapse of a pension fund to result in any convictions aroused little interest among the general public, says George Coats
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FeaturesPPM overhaul offers a better choice
Sweden’s PPM system is being overhauled. Mikael Nyman explains the reasons why and outlines the new landscape
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FeaturesDodging the sub-prime bullet
It is 10 years since PIMCO, the fixed income manager based in the US, began operations in Europe as PIMCO Europe. Since then, it has grown from an operation with a fingernail hold on the European market to one with a substantial presence in Europe. PIMCO Europe’s London headquarters, set ...
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Special Report
Where pension funds can and can’t excel: Watson Wyatt’s view
While certain aspects of governance may need to be enhanced when using external managers, this should not necessarily deter pension funds from continuing to use them, rather than build an in-house team, according to Watson Wyatt. The pension consultants say that research conducted by Roger Urwin, global head of investment ...
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Features
Happy Honecker: censorship lives
In the former East Germany, the Honecker regime cunningly blanked-out maps west of Berlin in a bid to foil escapes. This is an approach that the IASB’s pension team appears to have taken literally. An example is Paragraph 50 of the observer notes for the board’s December 2007 discussions: “A ...
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FeaturesKAGs face up to challenge of international competition
Volumes invested in domestically registered Spezialfonds rose again in 2007, even though the consolidation that has resulted in a decline in the number of funds continued – albeit at a slower pace. Managers’ involvement in the Spezialfonds business is changing too, as administration and portfolio management responsibilities have become increasingly separate. KAGs facing international competition have the challenge of developing further innovative fund products and providing more flexible management. Till Entzian presents his annual survey of the market
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FeaturesA changing landscape
Falling solvency levels at insurance companies are making it more attractive for Finnish firms to set up corporate pension funds. Reeta Paakkinen reports
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FeaturesThe shape of things to come
Mn Services is increasing the allocations of emerging market assets in its portfolios. Joseph Mariathasan finds out why
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Features
The crunch continues
Yield curve/duration The credit crunch is now manifesting itself in the form of the massive writedowns by scores of financial institutions. The focus has moved from sub-prime to collateralised debt obligations of asset backed securities (CDOs of ABSs) to asset backed commercial paper (ABCP) as the disease spreads to the ...
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FeaturesFinnish firms keep it cool
Finland’s pension funds remain unfazed by recent market developments although some are reassessing their asset allocation, finds Reeta Paakkinen
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Features
Reforms on test from crisis
The global financial crisis has sparked a review of Finnish pension reforms. Reeta Paakkinen reports
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Features
INVESTMENT DIRECTOR’s DIARY
Revolution at Wasserdicht Pension Funds. The whole investment team is debating the targeting of third-party assets. From Brussels to Vienna and Frankfurt to London, our sharpest minds are congregating in Amsterdam to discuss how we would do this. Jean from Bruxelles began proceedings: “We should ask smaller pension funds to ...
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Features
INVESTMENT DIRECTOR’s DIARY
We have been very busy. Managers have been letting us know of our exposures to financials and we have even been discussing the merits of an ex-financials benchmark. The question is where is the bottom to all this mess? Word of advice: do not rely totally on your black-box quant ...
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Features
The Fannie and Freddie effect
The apparent end of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac uncertainty, following the de-facto government takeover in September, sent shares in the two quasi-governmental mortgage lenders tumbling, further decimating the considerable holdings of US pension funds in the mortgage giants. This new ‘conservatorship’ raises immediate questions about the fate of ...
