All articles by Susanna Rust – Page 8
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News
Sweden in the dock over pension discrimination
EUROPE - The European Commission has decided to refer Sweden to the European Court of Justice for its discriminatory tax legislation on pensions.
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News
Fiduciary pioneer backs local renaissance
NETHERLANDS - The pioneer of fiduciary asset management in the Netherlands has claimed local providers are catching up with international rivals in the field.
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News
Unions deny BA pensions agreement
UK - Unions have denied they are in agreement with British Airways over its proposed restructuring of the airline's major pension scheme.
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Features
Why Sfn was condemned to a slow death
The Dutch government’s desire to reduce early retirement across the private and public sector has meant a death sentence for some pension schemes. Brendan Maton looks at one doomed scheme
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Features
Making the breakthrough
In 2000 the Taxation of Pension Investment Returns Act was introduced in Denmark. Like a good new year’s resolution it promised a simpler taxation regime for all, and a gateway for foreign asset managers wishing to break into the domestic Danish market. Five years of freedom have seen major growth ...
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Features
Evaluating performance
Evangelism is in short supply in the pensions industry. So it is refreshing to find odd voices that are full of belief. Two such belong to Kevin Sime and Roger Brown of Blacket Research in Edinburgh. Blacket is an independent business seeking ways to evaluate the advice given by investment ...
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Features
A developing relationship
The degree of success of investment banks in the worlds of pension funds and insurance companies is difficult to ascertain. In part this is because investment bankers are happy to use the kind of spin that would make a politician blush. In part it is because trading is so sensitive ...
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Features
Moving into uncharted waters
As the yields on long-term lending shrink, it becomes harder for active managers to justify their fees managing these kinds of investments. Indeed, there is a case for saying that the credit markets in total are not attractive right now for institutions, with even BBB bonds offering just 50-70 basis ...
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Features
Makeover for the tried and true
It has been a bumper year for German investors so far. Global equities up about 16%, European equities a percentage point higher and even doughty European fixed income has returned 5%. But in spite of the markets’ generosity, providers are still banging the drum for innovation. They fear that unless ...
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Features
The bull in the china shop
It is a new dawn over Eindhoven for the investment team for the Philips Pension Fund. This autumn it joined the thundering herd of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM), one of the largest asset managers in the world with $478bn (e396bn)under management. The deal, completed in September, is a boon ...
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Features
Looking into the futures
The returns of commodities futures are negatively correlated with stocks and bonds. Commodity futures provide diversification at times when stocks are performing at their worst. Commodity features have a positive correlation with inflation. These enticing characteristics are the conclusion of a study* by Gary Gorton, of the University of Pennsylvania’s ...
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Features
Consultants' perspectives
For most consultants in Europe today, there is little use beginning a conversation on asset allocation by talking about pure alpha. Liabilities are the ship and alpha merely the wind which takes it to the longed-for destination. Consultants are spending more time explaining the nature of that ship to the ...
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News
Nomura soft closes to European clients
UK - Nomura Asset Management UK (NAM) has closed to new business in Far East equities for the rest of the year, after taking in assets worth 1.1 billion dollars already in 2004.
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News
Coal scheme appoints Scott
UK - Derek Scott, chairman of the board of the Stagecoach Group pension scheme, has become a trustee of the UK’s Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme.
