All IPE articles in October 2011 (Magazine) – Page 2

  • Features

    Liam Kennedy: Two paths, not irreconcilable

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Two books landed on my desk in September – one on the subject of good pension governance, the other on retirement income.

  • Features

    Martin Steward: Trigger unhappy

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    When does a tactical loosening of a strategy become a panic? And when does panic start to undermine the strategy itself? If your strategy is liability-driven investing (LDI), you might well ask. It wasn’t long ago that plummeting yields were trumpeted as the vindication of LDI. At the end of 2009, celebrating the sixth anniversary of the pioneering Friends Provident Pension Scheme/Merrill Lynch transaction, Redington observed that UK 30-year real yields had fallen 126bps in that time. Around the same time Lane Clark and Peacock compared the 10% loss on the average FTSE100 pension scheme’s assets with the 3% gain on Friends Provident’s during 2008.

  • Opinion Pieces

    Thoughtful ownership

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Investment managers too often have very little understanding of the businesses in which they are investing, delegates were told at a meeting in Brussels during the launch of a new study on stewardship.

  • Germany: Kandlbinder 2011
    Special Report

    Germany: Kandlbinder 2011

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Investor faith in Spezialfonds continues after the highest year of inflows since 1998, writes Till Entzian

  • Special Report

    Germany: Active and domestic

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Nina Röhrbein reviews a recent study on Spezialfonds demand from the investor’s perspective

  • Country Report

    Spain: Shift from conventional assets?

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Some see diversification as a trump card as they weather domestic and global economic turbulence, writes Cecile Sourbes

  • Features

    ATP judges NOW is the time to enter the UK

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    ATP’s confirmation that it will be moving into the UK pension market was not, in itself, surprising. As anticipated, Morten Nilsson – now both head of ATP’s international operations and the chief executive-elect for its UK entity NOW Pensions – announced that the defined contribution (DC) scheme’s assets would be ...

  • Country Report

    Spain: The pensions piggy bank

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Spain’s heavily indebted regional communities are in pursuit of the €65bn Social Security Reserve Fund. Some think that might not be such a good idea, writes Jim Robinson

  • Asset Class Reports

    Sovereign Bonds: Old certainties crumble

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Politics, not economic fundamentals, will determine the future of the developed world’s bond markets. Joseph Mariathasan finds this causing fixed income managers untold headaches

  • Asset Class Reports

    Sovereign Bonds: Over-priced, over-exposed…

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    …over my dead body? Despite other options, Martin Steward finds pension funds struggling to let go of core government bonds

  • Asset Class Reports

    Sovereign Bonds: Dodging bullets

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    The US downgrade did not rock the foundations of the US Treasury market, and might even have sent a healthy signal to Washington’s elite, writes Emma Cusworth

  • Asset Class Reports

    Sovereign Bonds: Sustainable sovereigns will pay their way

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Balazs Magyar shows that environmental and social, in addition to fiscal sustainability, have had a material effect on sovereign bond returns

  • Country Report

    Portugal: The wind of change

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Gail Moss assesses pensions policy in Portugal following the bail-out

  • Country Report

    Spain: Lessons from Chile

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Enrique Munita and Inigo Sagardoy outline aspects of Chile’s funded pension system that might apply to Spain

  • Features

    Mariska van der Westen: Just who can you trust?

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    In the Netherlands, as elsewhere, the trustee model has come under intense scrutiny after the credit crisis. Dutch pension funds lost €120bn in 2008, €20bn of which can be chalked up to poor execution, the so-called ‘implementation shortfall’. Studies have found that trustee boards often lack the knowledge and expertise ...

  • Special Report

    Germany: A new driver

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    In July, Thomas Richter took over as head of the German asset management association. He tells Barbara Ottawa he wants to improve the industry’s image in retirement provision

  • Special Report

    Do ESG strategies hurt performance?

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Iordanis Chatziprodromou asks if there are identifiable risks associated with general ESG-driven investment strategies

  • Features

    Swiss funds welcome minimum exchange rate

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    The recent falls in equity and bond markets – added to the losses from foreign exchange risks – have caused Swiss pension funds to shiver in recent months. But the decision taken by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) on 6 September to set a minimum exchange rate of CHF1.20 to ...

  • Special Report

    Germany: Investing in investors

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Martin Steward asked Michael Klimek about his company’s innovative co-operation model in investment management

  • Special Report

    Germany: Lone wolf

    October 2011 (Magazine)

    Martin Steward meets a manager offering an unusual combination of small-cap and absolute-return option strategies