All IPE articles in October 2010 (Magazine)
View all stories from this issue.
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Opinion Pieces
IAS19 volatility danger
Perhaps unsurprisingly, pension fund representative bodies have registered their objection to the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) fair value proposals for defined benefit (DB) pension accounting. There is also backing from two major US organisations and a European one, plus general support by a second European body.
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Special ReportGermany: Kandlbinder 2010
Till Entzian charts the consolidation trend in his annual review of the German Spezialfonds marketplace, during and after 2009’s year of asset recovery
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FeaturesAlign your interests
Gail Moss assesses how pension fund boards and trustees can make sure their interests are in line with those of their asset managers
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Features
Barbarians at the gate
Gold may be a good hedge against an investment portfolio’s fiat currency exposures. But, Martin Steward asks, does it matter that some investors may be holding it for very different reasons?
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Features
Spanish custody is set for change
Iain Morse reports on the expected effects of Target2 Securities
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Features
Reality check
The read across from US GAAP to IFRS is far from easy, despite the efforts of consultants such as Towers Watson and auditors KPMG to break it down. For example, the pensions comparison in the August 2009 edition of KPMG’s ‘IFRS Compared to US GAAP’, runs to 17 pages.
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FeaturesNetherlands: Towards constitutional rights
Two major reports on pensions set a challenge for the incoming Dutch government, writes Liam Kennedy
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Country ReportSpain: Where to diversify?
Gail Moss charts the asset allocations of Spanish pension entities and notes the increase in interest in risk management
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Features
Pitfalls of fiduciary management
Christiaan Tromp outlines the necessary criteria for successful and long-lived fiduciary management partnerships
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Opinion Pieces
Social reform tensions
The campaign for the November mid-term Congressional elections is heating up, and one topic raising temperatures is social security reform. Depending on the outcome of the elections in the House and the Senate, the recommendations of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (NCFRR), due by 1 December, will be received in a different political environment.
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Features
The high wire act of asset allocation
Diversification is staging a reincarnation, according to Barb McKenzie and Amin Rajan
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Special Report
Who governs the agenda?
The UK’s Stewardship Code leaves something to be desired. For example, what exactly is good stewardship? Nina Röhrbein reports
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Special Report
Germany: Architect of its own fortune
Make-or-buy decisions are at the root of Gothaer Asset Management’s investment strategy, finds Nina Röhrbein
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Country Report
Portugal: Diversification away from home
Nina Röhrbein reports on a Portuguese pension market that is stagnating as employers struggle with more pressing issues
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FeaturesThe truly balanced portfolio
Martin Steward spoke with the pioneer of alpha/beta separation and ‘risk parity’ about strategic diversified beta portfolios
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Country Report
Spain: Eggs in one basket
Jim Robinson comments on the asset allocation of Spain’s €58bn social security reserve fund
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Features
Challenging beginnings
Liam Kennedy asked Hugo Lasat, CEO of Belgium’s Amonis, about the challenge of running a pension fund after a career in asset management and private banking
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Asset Class Reports
Sovereign Bonds: Calling in the plumbers
Joseph Mariathasan takes a look at proposals to unblock the pipes of Europe’s repo market
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Asset Class ReportsSovereign Bonds: Macro madness
Emerging market strength versus developed market weakness, European core versus periphery, inflation versus deflation – Joseph Mariathasan finds a market rapidly rediscovering its complexity
