All IPE articles in October 2003 (Magazine) – Page 3
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Features
Switch to DC poses real problems
The UK has a long history of defined benefit (DB) pensions, but in recent years many employers have switched to defined contribution (DC) schemes, particularly for new members. As the requirements are different for each of these arrangements, changing from DB to DC presents companies with administration and governance challenges. ...
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Features
Cracking the German market first
As the European pension market evolves, with new regulations creating greater diversity in the types of pensions available to workers, pension providers are faced with the issue of how to administer the different products they are now able to offer. Nowhere is this problem more marked than in Germany where ...
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Features
Looking at the pros and cons
The brutal and tragic murder of Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh permeated every aspect of the closing stages of the vote on the issue of the country joining the Euro-zone. Democracy may have been vitiated by the vote, but whether its result will be accepted as conclusive remains to be ...
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Features
Effecting domestic pension reforms takes centre stage
As with pension fund associations elsewhere across Europe, the Association Française des Regimes et Fonds de Pension (Afpen) has found itself devoting a large amount of its time to domestic pensions reform, and, to a lesser extent, the European pensions directive for occupational schemes. “These reforms are the widest-ranging set ...
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Features
Funds struggle to meet their capital requirements
Danish funds suffered more than many from the market meltdown. Much of Denmark’s pension money is based on a 4.5% minimum benefit guarantee, which was the rate for 12 years until 1994. The falls in share prices and interest rates, combined with the high guarantee, have made it difficult for ...
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Features
Meeting the hedge capacity challenge
What is very interesting is the recent rise in pension fund investment in hedge funds. Driven by increasing membership and sponsor pressure to generate absolute returns, pension fund trustees are increasingly considering hedge funds as part of their overall investment portfolios. Now that consultants and even the UK government (Myners) ...
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Features
Keys for success in influencing Brussels
Legislation passed by the EU is not the end-result of decisions taken behind closed doors by Eurocrats or Euro-parliamentarians. The adoption process is to some extent open to the input of market players. The variety and number of interests represented on the different pieces of legislation, however, require interested stakeholders ...
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Features
Bringing hedge funds in from the cold
The current discussion in Germany about the deregulation of the hedge fund industry highlights an important issue faced by retail and institutional investors: how to find investments that can weather not only difficult market conditions but also offer potential for attractive future returns? The past three years have shown that ...
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Features
Bridging the gulf
Set to kick off this year on 20 October in Singapore, the occasion of SWIFT’s annual Sibos conference and exhibit is always an apposite moment to reflect upon the Belgium-based cooperative’s progress over the preceding year. This year, however, SWIFT ceo Lenny Schrank and his fellow executives could be forgiven ...
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Features
Focus has been on second pillar pensions
The Brussels-based Belgian Pension Fund Association (BPFA) has found itself involved in two main areas in the past year or so: the implementation of the new law on second-pillar pensions and the investments results of Belgian funds during 2002. In addition, the BPFA has undergone some internal restructuring as a ...
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Features
Time to shut the back office
This article considers issues involved in outsourcing each of the main areas of a pension scheme, and in particular back office outsourcing. It is based on an operation I successfully carried out at the £3bn (e4.3bn) TRW/Lucas fund in the UK. This was probably the first case of an in-house ...
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