Returns – Page 158
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Ofgem goes ahead with 15yr DB funding period
[16:15 CET 11-12] UK – Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, is to continue with plans to apply a 15-year optional funding period across all energy companies, in a bid to recover the cost of pension deficits from customers.
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Icelandic pensions establish private equity fund
[16:10 CET 11-12] ICELAND – Sixteen Icelandic pension funds have co-founded the Icelandic Investment Fund (Framtakssjóður Íslands), which is designed to invest in domestic companies that have suffered in the financial crisis but which show potential.
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Strong gains allow Industriens to pay 6%
[16:00 CET 11-12] DENMARK - Industriens Pension is boosting the account dividend it pays scheme members to 6% next year, as a result of the high returns it made on shares and corporate bonds this year.
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German association fears contribution drop
[16:00 CET 10-12] GERMANY – The VFPK, the German association of company Pensionskassen, has warned that a government move to introduce tax advantages for employers offering shares as part of salary entitlement could divert money from occupational pension schemes.
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Irish public sector turns to career average scheme
[14:00 CET 10-12] IRELAND – A new career average pension scheme is being introduced for new entrants to the public sector workforce from next year, in an effort to cut the government pay and pensions bill.
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UK employee contributions outstrip employers
[17:05 CET 09-12] UK – Employee contributions to funded pension schemes reached £42.5bn in 2008, overtaking the rate of employer contributions for the first time in six years.
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Dutch schemes performed better than overseas - study
[17:00 CET 09-12] NETHERLANDS - Dutch industry-wide pension funds lost an average of 9.3% on their investments in 2008, but this is still considerably better than the performance of pension plans elsewhere, according to a study conducted by CEM Benchmarking.
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Pension funds weakened corporate recovery – Watson Wyatt
[16:20 CET 07-12] UK - Deficits in final salary pension schemes are making it much harder for UK companies to restructure and prepare themselves for an economic recovery, according to research by Watson Wyatt and the UK employers organisation the CBI.
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UK roundup: Warwick University, Bangor University, Lloyds TSB
[15:45 CET 07-12] UK – Warwick University, Bangor University and Lloyds Banking Group are the latest organisations to announce changes to their final salary pension schemes, in a bid to make them more sustainable.
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First Quench heads for PPF assessment
[15:30 CET 07-12] UK – The First Quench Pension Scheme is in the process of entering the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment period, following the collapse of the sponsoring employer First Quench Retailing, formerly known as Threshers.
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DB deficits at Irish firms hit €5.4bn
[13:30 CET 03-12] IRELAND – The combined defined benefit (DB) pension deficits of Irish quoted companies increased by almost 15% between January and October to €5.4bn, according to research by Attain Consulting.
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Ofcom review questions BT pension holidays
[16:40 CET 01-12] UK – Ofcom, the UK regulator of the communications industry, has questioned the role of pension contribution holidays taken by BT in the 1990s, as part of a consultation to assess whether other telecoms firms should now help plug the BT Pension Scheme deficit.
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Italy sees €200m in pension inflows over three months
ITALY - Assogestioni, the Italian asset management association, said open plan pension funds saw net inflows of just €218m between July and September 2009, taking the overall net value of Italian pension fund assets to nearly €6bn.
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Footballer scheme returns 4% on 100% fixed income
[13:00 CET 30-11] NETHERLANDS - The €600m retirement bridging fund for Dutch professional footballers (CFK) has generated a 4% return on investments, after allocating all of its assets to fixed income.
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UK firm uses project assets to cut pension deficit
[16:50 CET 27-11] UK – Interserve, a UK services, maintenance and building group, has transferred its stake in a portfolio of 13 Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) to its £400m (€441m) pension scheme to help reduce its funding deficit.
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Irish schemes get breathing space on DB benefit cut rules
[16:40 CET 27-11] IRELAND – The Pensions Board has extended until June next year the deadline for schemes filing a funding proposal related to DB benefit reduction. But the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) claimed the guidance is still too strict.
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UK pension funds demand more long-dated bond issuance
[16:30 CET 27-11] UK - Four-fifths of UK pension funds want to see the government issue more long-dated and index-linked gilts as a way of guaranteeing returns. This follows a year where the number of defined benefit (DB) schemes remaining open to new members fell to an all-time low.
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Dutch pension funds remain ‘vulnerable’
[13:00 CET 27-11] NETHERLANDS – The Dutch pensions supervisor, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), has reported in its November financial stability report that the financial situation of pension funds remains vulnerable, writes Mariska van der Westen for our Dutch sister publication IPN. The DNB says that funds have not yet recovered, ...
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Irish pensions framework to have lead-in time
[16:50 CET 26-11] IRELAND – Mary Hanafin, minister of social and family affairs, has admitted the National Pensions Framework being developed by the government will not be introduced immediately, in order to minimise pressure on the pension industry.
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UK roundup - Essex, Strathclyde, Equitable Life and Telent
[16:00 CET 25-11] UK – Essex County Council is re-tendering the contract for investment consultants to its pension fund, while Strathclyde is tendering three property mandates.
