All IPE articles in October 2006 (Online) – Page 8
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News
Municipality tenders ‘Silver Fund’ mandate
BELGIUM – The Belgian municipality Wervik is looking to put a mandate of €600,000 in to a so-called ‘Silver Fund’.
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Pensions buy-out player Paternoster signs first deals
UK – The newly established pension fund buyout company Paternoster has signed its first five deals, a spokeswoman confirmed to IPE. However, no details were given.
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Germany excludes housing from REITs
GERMANY – The German finance ministry has abruptly decided to exclude residential housing from German real estate investment trusts (G-REITs), due to be legalised by the government from January 1, 2007.
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TFR transfer agreement could be €5bn boost to Italian pension funds
ITALY - A compromise reached in Italy will see approximately one third of the €19bn expected yearly in severance payments (TFR) being transferred into private pension funds, one third going into a state pension fund (INPS) and one third staying with small companies, the government estimates.
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Former Hermes strategy head new CIO at US University fund
UK – Hermes’ James Walsh has been nabbed by the $5bn (£2.35bn) Cornell University fund in the US as the endowment’s new chief investment officer.
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Survey finds Swiss funds content with own governance
SWITZERLAND – Swiss pension funds feel that there are no major shortcomings in their corporate governance and that the government need not need tighten their regulation.
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Audit Commission says London pension fund admin too expensive
UK – “The average administration cost per London council scheme member is £126 (€188) compared to only £44 for metropolitan council funds,” the Audit Commission finds in its study on London council pension funds.
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Eumedion welcomes moves on changes to shareholder voting
NETHERLANDS – Eumedion, the Dutch foundation for corporate governance issues, which is supported by pension funds, says that its members will follow the strategy whereby though shares are loaned the pension funds will keep their voting rights.
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NPRF records strong positive 6.9% return in 2006
IRELAND – The €17.6bn Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund reported positive investment returns both for the third quarter (5.5%) and over the last 10 months (6.9%) after negative returns (-3.8%) in the second quarter.
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Collapsed scheme compensation case to go to full hearing
UK – Pension campaigners, challenging the government’s refusal to compensate members of collapsed occupational pension schemes, have won the right for a full hearing next year, a High Court judge has ruled.
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Studies find private equity taking strong hold among Europe’s investors
EUROPE – European institutional investors’ growing appetite for diversification and the “superior returns” of private equity is set to encourage rapid growths in the asset class, studies have revealed today.
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Durham shakes up £1.3bn council pension fund portfolio
UK – The £1.3bn (€1.9bn) Durham County Council pension fund is set for a complete overhaul of the fund’s investments in an attempt to address the £321m fund deficit. The mandates tendered see a stronger emphasis on bond exposure.
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Parliament majority supports extending levensloop
NETHERLANDS – A majority of the Dutch parliament supports the extension of the tax-friendly ‘levensloop’ life-course scheme.
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Horeca in admin tie-up with Dutch UWV
NETHERLANDS – In a deal with Dutch Employees’ Insurance Institute (UWV), the €2bn Pensioenfonds Horeca & Catering (PH&C) is to use the institute’s employment data, the fund announced today.
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FRR re-awards transition broking brief
FRANCE – The €29.1bn, Fonds de Reserve pour les Retraites, the French Pension Reserve Fund, has re-awarded a transition broker contract to Goldman Sachs International.
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Only half German PKs will survive – survey predicts
GERMANY – Only about half of the Pensionskassen competing for pension business nationwide have a viable long-term business model, according to the consultant Rauser Towers Perrin (RTP).
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Nordea assets inflows exceed €1bn
NORTHERN EUROPE – Nordea, the financial services group in the Nordic and Baltic region, has seen an inflow of €1.1bn in institutional assets under management as supposed to an outflow of €200m last year.
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UK and Irish pooled pension funds recover from Q2
EUROPE – UK pooled pension funds returned 3% on average after posting negative returns of 4.1% earlier this year. In Ireland, the median return of pooled pension funds in the third quarter was 5.4%.
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Insurers fight cost issue in UK’s planned NPSS model
UK – Cost is not a key-factor in the choice between the delivery options for the government’s planned Personal Accounts scheme, as the proposed centralised model will only provided limited economies of scale, according to a report from the UK’s insurance industry.
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German government agrees first-pillar reform
GERMANY – The governing Conservatives and Social Democrats have agreed details for a major reform of the state pension scheme, to include hikes in the retirement age and the statutory contribution on the one hand and cuts in the state benefit on the other.
