Financial Times Mandate articles from January 2004

Financial Times Mandate archives from January 2004

News: Declining dollar deals 20% blow to Irish pension funds.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Irish pension funds returned 12.6 per cent last year but have suffered from the weak dollar and remain dangerously overweight in domestic equities, new research shows. Funds, which dropped more than 20 per cent in 2001 and 2002, can expect...

News: UBS and Western recruited.(South Yorkshire Pensions Authority)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... South Yorkshire Pensions Authority has appointed UBS Global Asset Management and Western Asset Management to manage two active bond mandates worth GBP200m (e287m) each, effective from February. A review of the fund's bond managers took...

News: Three vie for Cardiff vote but only Deutsche bags oe74.7m in bonds.(Cardiff & Vale of Glamorgan Council Pension Fund )(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Cardiff & Vale of Glamorgan Council Pension Fund has appointed Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM) to run a GBP74.7m (e107m) active global bond mandate. The fund manager has been asked to benchmark the portfolio 75 per cent to the Merrill...

News: State Street signs e800m custody deal.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... State Street has scooped a E800m global custody brief from the UK's DS Smith Group Pension Scheme. The appointment, which consolidates DS Smith's custody with one provider, ousts custody rival JPMorgan Chase, the previous custodian, along...

Editorial: Can equities bring plans back to black?(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Despite some January cheer from Russell/ Mellon Caps, 2004 is likely to be another year of living dangerously for UK pension funds. For one thing, a trumpeted 15.8 per cent return generated on the back of strong-performing stock markets in...

News: In brief - London's Aim keeps IPO market afloat.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... London is hanging onto its leading position in the European inital public offering (IPO) market, despite predictions of a "flood" of IPOs across the continent. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the market showed steady recovery over the...

News: In brief - Euroclear customers to receive E30m rebate.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Euroclear Bank has announced a E30m rebate to clients to be paid in early January. The rebate will be allocated on a pro-rata basis, according to the fees they paid for settlement, custody and securities borrowing services over the last 12...

News: In brief - Opers investment fund returns up by $11.2bn.
January 12, 2004... The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (Opers) reported a $11.2bn increase in its investment portfolio in 2003 to $58.7bn. Opers said the growth in assets represented an estimated return of 22 per cent and was the second-highest single...

News: In brief - AGF awards Intech $50m US growth brief.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Intech's mathematical, risk-managed approach has scored the Janus subsidiary a $50m US growth mandate from AGF Funds in Canada. AGF, which runs C$29bn, picked Intech for its consistently strong record, "unique and highly disciplined...

News: In brief - Standard Life selects global big name BNY.(Bank of New York )(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Edinburgh-based Standard Life Investments has picked The Bank of New York (BNY) as fund services provider for its new multi-manager launch. BNY will act as custodian and fund accountant to the new Standard Life open- ended investment...

News: Pavilion loses oe1.4bn MGM mandate.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... A month after UK broker and investment bank Seymour Pierce Group failed to sell Pavilion Asset Management, MGM Assurance Group has terminated a GBP1.4bn (e2bn) mandate with Pavilion. Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) has been...

News: Case for increasing emerging exposure.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Emerging market equities are set to become a core holding for institutional investors in 2004, according to global fund managers. In a string of investment reports to mark the start of 2004, emerging markets have been heralded as providing...

News: SFIM link-up with Denver to broaden product range.(Singer & Friedlander Investment Management)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... London's Singer & Friedlander Investment Management (SFIM) has joined forces with Colorado's Denver Investment Management in a deal that will see the firms distribute each other's products. Denver, which has $6.1bn under management, will...

News: Prudential forges Asia alliance with IAM.(International Asset Management )(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... London-based International Asset Management (IAM) is to provide fund of hedge funds products to Prudential's customers in Asia. According to Alan Djanogly, founder and investment director of IAM, the services will be provided mainly to...

Comment and Analysis: New year resolution: sound out the experts.
January 12, 2004... Happy New Year? After a turbulent start to the millennium, and signs of light in 2003, what will 2004 bring the investment world? FT Mandate has consulted a panel of experts on where to look in the main asset classes in the year to come. ...

News: Ohio commits 4% to private equity.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... The $56bn Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (Opers) has committed an extra $286m to private equity partnerships. The Columbus-based fund has also put Invesco on the watch list thanks to the mutual fund scandals, with $219m domestic...

News: Chicago nets $230m mid cap bonus.(Chicago Public School Teachers' Pension & Retirement Fund )(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... The $9.5bn Chicago Public School Teachers' Pension & Retirement Fund has dropped William Blair and Iridian Asset Management in favour of Chicago Equity Partners. The local player has won an active domestic mid-cap core equity brief of...

News: Aberdeen Asia operation adds $310m from Danske.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Aberdeen Asset Management has had a $310m Christmas present from Denmark's largest fund group. Danske Invest has picked the UK house to run $210m in global emerging markets and $100m in Asia ex-Japan equities. Aberdeen, which will be...

News: Pantheon strategic fit for purchaser Russell.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Multi-management giant Russell Investment Group is to acquire Pantheon, boosting its private equity business to nearly $8bn. This comes after growing demand for private equity. Jeff Ganung, director of alternative investments, at Russell,...

News: In brief - BNY/Perpetual bring solutions down under.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... The Bank of New York (BNY) and Perpetual Corporate Trust have signed a strategic alliance to offer global trust solutions to Australian debt issuers. The alliance will establish closer ties between the two organisations and provide...

News: In brief - Mercer replaces Wyatt as consultant to Linde.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Mercer Human Resource Consulting has taken over from Watson Wyatt to provide actuarial and investment consulting services for the pension arrangements of Linde Material Handling, part of the German-owned Linde Group. Mercer beat off...

News: UK lags behind market with low funding levels.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... The UK has proved the exception to the rule in a trend that saw improvements in pension fund financing levels in all other major retirement markets. According to a report by consultants Towers Perrin, favourable asset returns outweighed...

News: Intech nets $240m and plans global segregated product.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Intech, the Janus Capital Group subsidiary, which has just scooped its first segregated European mandate, is planning to launch a global product in the spring. David Schofield, Janus's European director of sales, said: "They are working on...

News: Industry small fan of money markets.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Almost half investment professionals prefer to leave cash assets on deposit with a bank rather than invest in money market funds or hunt around for the best bank rates, according to research by Barclays Global Investors (BGI). Only 41 per...

News: Online venture appoints Northern Trust.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Northern Trust has been picked to provide manager of manager funds for a new online investment platform called Lifetime. In what Lifetime director, Michael Short, described as "in the end quite an easy decision", Northern Trust has been...

How The Deal Was Won: Paamco examined by mystery client.(TNO Dutch pension fund)
January 12, 2004... Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company (Paamco) was in the dark about the identity of its prospective client until an advanced stage of the bidding for its first European win. The hedge fund of funds specialist was contacted by...

News: Capco advisory role complete for Cargill's Black River launch.(Cargill's Global Capital Markets)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Capco, a global financial services and technological solutions provider, completed an advisory engagement to assist Cargill's Global Capital Markets launch its alternative asset management company. Capco assisted Cargill in designing and...

News: BNY wins Liontrust outsourcing contract.(Bank of New York )(Liontrust)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... The Bank of New York (BNY) has scooped a GBP1.2bn (e1.7bn) outsourcing mandate from UK equity boutique Liontrust. The brief, to provide a retail fund outsourcing solution for Liontrust's five UK unit trusts, follows BNY's recent...

News: Corporate bond issuance to fall by 25-30% in 2004.
January 12, 2004... Institutional investors will have to divert major tranches of their funds this year as corporate bond issuance slows by between 25 per cent and 30 per cent, according to ABN Amro. The bank's credit research and strategy team predicts that...

News: Glasgow tops HSBC actuary survey.(HSBC Actuaries & Consultants)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Glasgow Investment Managers was the top performing balanced pooled pension fund manager over the past year and Swiss Life over the past 10 years, according to HSBC Actuaries & Consultants. The consultancy firm's latest Image survey put Bank...

News: JPMorgan extends ties to Delaware.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... JPMorgan has extended its previous relationship with Philadelphia-based Delaware Investments by winning the custody mandate for the new Optimum Fund Trust. The firm will provide global custody for the six multi-managed funds, which include...

News: In brief - Dow Jones deletes Quebecor and CSR from Titans indices.(Dow Jones and Company Inc.)(Quebecor World Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Dow Jones has made component changes to its Dow Jones Canada Titans 40 and Dow Jones Australia Titans 30 indices. Quebecor World (Canada) and CSR (Australia) have been deleted because of the "early removal rule", which applies when a...

News: In brief - State Street scoops securities service for Tate & Lyle pension.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... The Boston-based firm, State Street Corporation, is to provide securities lending services to the GBP600m Tate & Lyle Pension Scheme. This comes after it scooped the global custody and investment accounting brief from the fund. Viv...

News: In brief - Eurex reduces transaction fees on Finnish equity options by half.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... International derivatives market Eurex is to slash its transaction fees for Finnish equity options by more than half. The idea behind the reductions - of up to 57 per cent - is to boost trading volumes worldwide at Eurex by enhancing the...

News Analysis: Putnam Investments - Putnam turns a brave face to 2004.
January 12, 2004... With more than $32bn of asset management business lost since a market timing scandal broke last September, the powers that be at Putnam Investments will have rung in the New Year with a mixture of relief and trepidation. Despite publicly...

People News: JPMorgan hires Deutsche veteran.(Richard Fodder )(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... JPMorgan Investor Services has hired Richard Fodder as senior vice-president, fund management, client and sales executive. At Deutsche Bank, Mr Fodder was involved in the strategic review and subsequent sale of the operation to State...

People News: Dickson leaves BGI for Mellon Global.(Barclays Global Investors)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Mellon Global Investments Limited has appointed Julie Dickson as director of transition management marketing for Europe to develop Mellon's transition management business in the region. Based in London, Ms Dickson will report to Greg Brisk,...

People News: Schroders poaches Douse from Watson.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Schroder Investment Management has appointed Susan Douse as global head of product management and consultant relationships. She joins Schroders in March 2004 from Watson Wyatt, where, as a partner, she headed up their global investment...

People News: SunGard welcomes Morgan as president.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Doug Morgan is the new president and John MacIlwaine the new chief technology officer at SunGard Investment Management Systems. Mr Morgan joins SunGard from Thomson Financial, where, in his role as senior vice-president, he took...

People News: Wilson and Stevens join Old Mutual.
January 12, 2004... Old Mutual Asset Managers (UK) has hired Simon Wilson as head of marketing and Mark Stevens as a fund manager in its quantitative equities investment team. Mr Wilson returns to Old Mutual from Govett where he worked for the last three...

People News: Thomson recruits Aubrey from FT.(FT Interactive Data )(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Thomas Aubrey has been hired by Thomson Financial to head the development of Datastream, research and economics at the firm. He comes from four years at FT Interactive Data in a number of roles, including market group director responsible...

Portfolio: Asset Allocation - Europe - Morley applies research approach.(Somerset County Council Pension Fund)
January 12, 2004... Morley Fund Management will apply its income and research-driven investment style to a UK property fund of funds brief from Somerset County Council. The initial brief is set at 2 per cent of the GBP630m (e900m), Taunton, UK- based fund,...

Portfolio: Asset Allocation - Americas - Ashmore wins in emerging debt.(Pension Reserves Investment Management Board)
January 12, 2004... Ashmore, running its $200m brief from the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (Prim), will use a less risky portfolio than the benchmark. The benchmark for the emerging market debt brief is the JPMorgan EMBI GD,...

Portfolio: Asset Allocation - Asia-Pacific - Low fees secure Rest for Orion.
January 12, 2004... Making money in a changing market can be a challenge, especially when it shows signs of becoming a slow rally instead of powering ahead in a long and fruitful relationship with investors. The A$5bn (E3bn) Australian Retail Employees...

Portfolio: Market Analysis - View from Europe - Surge in convertible bond demand dampens equities.
January 12, 2004... For a long time, European equity investors in companies that issue convertible bonds (CBs) have suffered a systematic transfer of wealth to hedge fund investors. Two pieces of evidence support this proposition: first, the CB arbitrage...

Portfolio: Market Analysis - View from the Americas - US business activity finally gears up to drive recovery.
January 12, 2004... The US is now more than two years into economic recovery but it was only towards the very end of 2003 that the missing player - business - finally seemed to have begun to engage and actively participate in the rebound. Better than expected...

Portfolio: Market Analysis - View from Asia-Pacific - Pacific Rim economies consolidate after rally in 2003.
January 12, 2004... After mounting a strong rally between March and October this year, Asian markets may have entered a consolidation phase. If so, this correction is healthy. Along with the general market optimism there has been a steady improvement in the...

Mandate Research: Currency Foreign Exchange - Euro to bear the brunt of dollar weakness in 2004.
January 12, 2004... The mechanics behind the ongoing weakness of the dollar can no longer be in doubt. As recent capital flow data and the current account data for the US has unambiguously illustrated, there is a massive monthly shortfall between the net amount...

Mandate Research: Currency Foreign Exchange - FX fund managers in for a rough ride.
January 12, 2004... Investment houses across the globe have set their investment strategies for 2004, with most agreeing that the rapid growth seen in the US in 2003 will slow this year. According to the Deutsche Asset Management Global Strategy report, the...

Mandate Research: Investment Industry Outlook For 2004 - Common challenges.
January 12, 2004... Pension schemes, fund managers and investment consultants have all suffered testing times during 2003. Uncertain public markets have forced trustees, managers and members to recognise that risk actually exists and, while we can hope the worst...

Mandate Research: Fund Management Indices - Benchmarks made to measure.
January 12, 2004... As the complexity and range of investments continue to grow and change, fund managers are calling for greater use of unconstrained benchmarks. A July 2003 survey by investment consultant Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow found that 70 per cent of...

Mandate Research: Fund Management Indices - FTSE provides CalPERS and the Hong Kong MPF with tailored solutions.(Californian Public Employees Retirement System)(Mandatory Provident Fund)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Customised indices are not a new phenomenon and FTSE Group has, in the past few years, designed specific indices for clients. The increased demand for this type of index by both investment fund managers and pension fund managers resulted in...

Regional Survey: Europe - France - Ready for change.
January 12, 2004... For the French pension industry 2003 has proved an eventful year. On the one hand, regulatory change sparked sector-wide industrial action and a climate of uncertainty, while on the other, the creation of savings vehicles and public investment...

Europe's smaller funds point in Reit direction.(Real estate investment trusts)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Real estate investment trusts (Reits), already popular in the US, can be expected to attract smaller pension funds in Europe. According to Paul Halford, managing director of Kel Computing, supplier of analytical property software to...

Swiss fluctuation reserves perilously low.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Swiss institutions are holding fluctuation reserves so low as to render them vulnerable to downwards volatility in the equity markets, a new report finds. According to research by Credit Suisse Asset Management and Dr Graziano Lusenti,...

CalPERS sues NYSE and specialist firms.(California Public Employees Retirement System)(New York Stock Exchange Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) is suing the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and its seven trading specialist firms for allegedly conspiring to defraud investors out of millions of dollars over the past five years....

Conferences.(Calendar)
January 12, 2004... - Bond and Fixed Income markets, Dublin, Ireland, January 14 One-day course run by Investment Education Contact: +44 161 228 2400 - Share Schemes & ESOPS, London, UK, January 28 One-day conference run by Informa finance ...