Financial Times Mandate articles from June 2005

Financial Times Mandate archives from June 2005

From the Editor: Wide berth for liability benchmarks.(Editorial)
June 1, 2005... Byline: Henry Smith A rather surprising finding has emerged from a survey by JPMorgan Asset Management of the investment practices of 120 of the largest 350 defined benefit plans in the US. Despite the search for better returns - the...

News & Analysis: Strategies, Products & Mandates - Mercer lambasts `spurious' pursuit of cash-flow matching.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Henry Smith The removal of equity risk is in danger of being oversold, Mercer Investment Consulting has said. Despite forecasting lower absolute stock market returns, Mercer contended that most pension funds are just as exposed...

News & Analysis: Strategies, Products & Mandates - Funds smitten by alternatives.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Henry Smith Alternative assets are being used increasingly by institutional investors both to enhance returns and diversify investment risk. A survey of 120 of the 350 largest US defined benefit pension plans by JPMorgan Asset...

News & Analysis: Strategies, Products & Mandates - Strategy - Watson Wyatt warns against tactical asset allocation use.(Brief article)
June 1, 2005... Byline: Roger Aitken Use of tactical asset allocation (TAA) as a total fund overlay is unwise and takes up a disproportionate amount of the total risk budget, according to investment consultants Watson Wyatt. While TAA strategies date...

News & Analysis: Strategies, Products & Mandates - Multi-manager assets up by a third.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Roger Aitken The increasing split between manufacturing and distribution in fund management combined with growing demand for embedded-advice products are among catalysts that boosted assets in multi-manager products by 32 per cent...

News & Analysis: Strategies, Products & Mandates - Soft dollars fall out of favour.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Paula Garrido Despite indications from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that a soft-dollar ban is not on the cards, the proportion of US institutions using soft dollars to pay for research and services continues to...

News & Analysis: Strategies, Products & Mandates - ING tells trustees to factor change.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Henry Smith Pension fund trustees have been urged to appreciate the impact of changing economic circumstances on their asset allocation decisions. Angelien Kemna, chief executive officer, Europe at ING Investment Management in...

News & Analysis: Strategies, Products & Mandates - Edhec: use futures and options.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Roger Aitken A research study published this month by Edhec Risk and Management Research Centre calls for the hedge fund industry to adopt an investor-driven approach to the packaging of alpha, in contrast to the current manager...

News & Analysis: Strategies, Products & Mandates - CAAM acquires property arm.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Henry Smith A new property investment arm has been created for Credit Agricole Asset Management through the merger of Uniger and Clam Immobilier. With assets of E2.2bn, the new entity, called Credit Agricole Asset Management...

Comment: The Garrido Files - Pioneer's crusade for institutional greatness.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Paula Garrido The announced take over of Germany's HypoVereinsbank (HVB) by Unicredito Italiano and the possibility of both companies integrating their asset management divisions shows Unicredito's commitment to this business. This...

Asset Allocation: The Chief - Country targets in emerging markets.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Paula Garrido Three successive years of good performance in emerging market equities has served to attract a lot of new investors to a traditionally volatile asset class. While the consensus view is that future returns are likely...

Asset Allocation: Scheme Spotlight - Back in positive territory.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Henry Smith The Environment Agency, the 20th largest fund in the UK's Local Government Pension Scheme, recently appointed six new specialist asset managers to manage GBP995m (e1.4bn) of its GBP1.1bn Active Pension Fund. The...

Asset Allocation: FTM Interview - Angelien Kemna - Service model takes priority.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Henry Smith A desire to provide a higher standard of service to existing institutional clients has superceded the traditional drive to amass assets under management at ING Investment Management. According to Angelien Kemna,...

Asset Allocation: Market Analysis - Europe - Equities and bonds remain compelling.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Steven Andrew The rejection of the EU constitution in the French and Dutch referenda is of little relevance to the financial markets outside of the possibility of a knee-jerk reaction lower from the euro or occasional increases in...

Asset Allocation: Market Analysis - North America - Auto downgrades cause tremors.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Sean P. Flannery Recent bond market turmoil following Ford's and General Motors' (GM) credit downgrades has illuminated the tip of the risk posed by the enormous level of leveraged exposure to the corporate bond market. Given the...

Asset Allocation: Market Analysis - South America - State of reform is the key to watch.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Jerome Booth With strong economic fundamentals and a benign external environment, many investors are looking more at politics for downside risk scenarios. After years of addressing macro-economic imbalances and structural reform,...

Asset Allocation: Market Analysis - Asia Pacific - Japan offers value in selective stocks.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Ed Merner Some investors and journalists have become very negative about the Japanese economy and the outlook for the Tokyo market. However, we remain cautiously optimistic on both. The yen will probably remain strong. Japan...

Asset Allocation: The Panel - The luxury of being liability-free.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Henry Smith Unlike many pension funds in Europe, the GBP21bn (e31bn) Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), is not faced with looming liabilities or a worrisome funding deficit. Rather the UK's third largest private sector...

Asset Allocation: Mandate Analysis - Northern's fixed income prowess.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Paula Garrido Shrinking investment returns in equity markets have forced investors to spend more time and energy putting together investment strategies to get the most out of their fixed income portfolios. The need for improving...

Asset Allocation: Portfolio Flows - US and China shape loonie's future.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Neil Mellor The outlook for the Canadian dollar (CAD) can, to a large extent, be drawn from that which underpins our general view of the US dollar. Assuming that a renewed outflow of capital from the US will trigger the restoration...

Special Report: Fixed Income - Investors seek smarter bonds.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Paula Garrido Disappointing investment returns in the equity markets over recent years have resulted in investors looking at bonds in a different way. Fixed income portfolios are now expected to work harder to generate alpha for...

Sponsored Report: Fixed Income - Three steps to success.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Erik van Leeuwen and Petra Sagel Many investors are asking themselves whether an investment in fixed income securities is a good idea. Interest rates are low and the return on corporate bonds, the spread, has narrowed considerably....

Strategy Selection: Equity Investing - Super size me?
June 1, 2005... Byline: Paula Garrido Large caps equities are back in the limelight following years of underperformance that led investors to increase their exposure to small and mid caps. For the past few years, small caps have been giving investors...

Strategy Selection: The Consulting Room - New benchmarks to exploit.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Roger Urwin Market capitalisation-weighted benchmarks have achieved a position in the investment world that is almost unchallenged. Watson Wyatt's thinking and beliefs start with these indices and there is no reason why this will...

Strategy Selection: Sub-advisory Uncovered - North Europe market matures.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Nick Phillips and Ingo Ahrens An analysis of sub-advisory in northern European markets reveals a scenario in which different players in different countries are discussing outsourcing and implementing it through various models. In...

Strategy Selection: FX Focus - Single styles yield less.
June 1, 2005... Byline: W. Parker King As active currency management and absolute return currency strategies have become more popular, investors are more aware that not all currency managers use the same process to exploit inefficiencies in these markets....

Strategy Selection: Socially Responsible Investment - Taking responsibility.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Simon Hildrey Climate change has moved to the centre of the political and business agendas. It will be one of the main issues to be discussed at the G8 summit at Gleneagles in Scotland in July. At the same time global companies,...

Strategy Selection: Socially Responsible Investment - Microfinance: Investing in developing world entrepreneurs.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Paula Garrido Investors wishing to combine investment returns with contributions to a good cause are starting to explore the opportunities offered by the microfinance sector. The UN declaration of 2005 as International Year of...

Performance Overview: Axa zooms in on south Pacific.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Paula Garrido Investors have been looking at Asia with increasing interest. Whether it is Australia, China or Japan, the need to diversify their equity portfolios is leading them to contemplate the opportunities that this region...

Support Services: Trading and Exchanges - Indices based on good governance.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Roger Aitken Almost 90 per cent of respondents in an industry-wide consultation conducted by FTSE, the index-provider, and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) said they expect corporate governance issues to grow in importance...

Support Services: Trading and Exchanges - European bourses under threat from US mergers.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Roger Aitken Chris Gibson-Smith, chairman of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), has warned that the recent spate of proposed exchange consolidations in the US will lead to greater economic competition for Europe. In a keynote...

Support Services: Trading and Exchanges - Feta joins big cheese RBC.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Roger Aitken Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has joined forces with Dexia to create one of the world's top 10 global custodians with $18,000bn (e14,000bn) in combined client assets under custody. The move, which brings the...

Support Services: Trading and Exchanges - Few firms positive on LSE takeover.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Roger Aitken A mere handful of listed companies believe that the much touted takeover of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) would be beneficial to them, with a third fearing it would damage their position, a survey has revealed....

Support Services: Sponsored Article - Letter from Europe - Serving up top notch value-added cuisine.
June 1, 2005... Byline: Claude Michau Today, fund performance is no longer the most important competitive advantage, especially in these lean economic times when fund managers are finding it almost impossible to guarantee consistent top performance....