All IPE articles in September 2003 (Magazine) – Page 3
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Features
Safe in the forest
Forestry investment has attracted increasing attention in recent years from pension fund managers looking for alternatives to the uncertainty and lower returns experienced with the major asset classes. A key feature of Irish forestry investments has been the steady positive real rate of return, with the lowest volatility of any ...
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Features
Feeling the squeeze
This relatively comfortable world of Swiss pensions with its world renowned three pillar system has been put under the microscope in the last year with Swiss pension scheme funding levels hit dramatically by the continued fall of stock markets. A report in June this year by ASIP, the Association of ...
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Features
Holds no fears
Like their UK and Dutch counterparts, Irish pension funds worried about the potential of a proscriptive pan-European Pensions Directive laying down rules where previously the prudent person pension fund management principle had worked well for decades. However, in a speech concerning the practical implications of the directive for Ireland, Anne ...
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Features
Facing realities
One of the most significant changes to have occurred in the last year in Germany was the proposed cut of the interest guarantee offered by some Pensionskassen from 3.25% to 2.75% at the beginning of next year. Many Pensionskassen have struggled to come anywhere close to their interest guarantees and ...
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Features
Great expectations
Iceland’s unique geographical position in Europe mirrors its somewhat idiosyncratic approach to pension provision. The country has privatised its pension system more comprehensively than any other Nordic state, with a fully funded second pillar of private and public occupational pension schemes. The country currently spends only 2% of GDP on ...
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Features
'Strengthen system', IMF tells Dutch
The International Monetary Fund says a strengthening of the Dutch pension system is needed to protect the solvency of occupational pension funds. It adds that the planned merger of regulatory bodies will bolster the supervision of the big, dominant pensions conglomerates. In a recent report on the Netherlands, the IMF ...
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Features
Most thumbs are up for the directive
This month’s Off The Record looks at the European directive on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) – the pensions directive – and asks what has really been achieved? The directive, recently approved by the Council of Ministers (Ecofin), is a key element of the ...
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Features
A difficult year
For those following the developments in the pensions market in France, 2003 is proving a very difficult year. After months of strikes against the government’s plans to reform the retirement system, the new pensions bill was officially adopted by the French Parliament last month. The most controversial proposal included in ...
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Features
Delivering the performance
Most investors recognise that currencies have a large impact on the returns of international and global portfolios. By selecting a multi-currency benchmark, the investor, implicitly or explicitly, makes decisions on a set of underlying assets and on the desired level of embedded currency exposure. There is a need to analyse ...
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Features
Reforms provoke heated debate
Pensions have been a hot topic in Austria during the past few months. Both the public and private pensions sectors have undergone more or less unwelcome reforms and it seems the months to come will continue to add more ingredients to the pensions debate. In May, thousands of Austrians took ...
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Features
On the edge of the debate
The discussions regarding the introduction of the European Pensions Directive have passed almost unnoticed by Portuguese fund managers. Like those in Spain, large Portuguese corporations do not possess many subsidiaries across Europe and, in any case, the market for occupational pension funds is still very limited. The very young pension ...
