epn: European Pensions & Investment News articles from February 2003

epn: European Pensions & Investment News archives from February 2003

News: Morgan Stanley tops epn prime brokerage survey.(hedge funds)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Morgan Stanley has come first in epn's survey of hedge fund prime brokers for the second year running. The bank actually completes a double for the second year as it also wins the top slot as custodian ahead of the Bank of Bermuda. The epn...

News: Robeco seeks German institutional business.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... The Rotterdam-based asset manager Robeco is planning to expand into the institutional market in Germany and has announced the opening of a Frankfurt office. The company has also received regulatory permission for 21 Sicav funds, which include...

News: Blue Sky's the limit for AXA.(AXA Rosenberg Investment Management's pan European small cap equity strategy)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... AXA Rosenberg Investment Management has been awarded almost E250m for its pan European small cap equity strategy. The mandates come from Blue Sky Group, formerly Dutch airline KLM's internal pensions department, and AHV, the Swiss federal...

News: Transport fund saves 50% on foreign exchange costs.(London Regional Transport Fund)
February 3, 2003... Huge savings on foreign exchange transactions are there for the taking if trustees and pension fund directors audit their spend, according to one GBP3bn UK fund. But the London Regional Transport Fund (LRT), which covers Tube drivers and...

News: The federation welcomes Poland.(European Federation for Retirement Provision)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Poland is the latest country to join the European Federation for Retirement Provision, the umbrella organisation for national pension fund associations. Societies belonging to the Polish Chamber of Pension Funds, IGTE, have approximately...

Scheme News: Winning over employees.(non-financial sector companies in Spain externalise pension liabilities)
February 3, 2003... More than three years after new legislation required all non-financial sector companies in Spain to externalise their pension liabilities, a little over 1,000 have done so. According to new statistics released by the Spanish economics ministry,...

Scheme News: Vienna fund mulls rise in emerging markets and corporate bonds.(OEPAG Pensionskasse )(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Austria's E1.35bn multi-employer OEPAG Pensionskasse is undergoing an asset study that is likely to lead to manager changes. Walter Schmoiger, head of investments, said that likely areas for diversification would be emerging market equities and...

Asset Management News: Losses to tune of 18.1%.(pooled funds)
February 3, 2003... Last year marked the worst year for UK pooled funds since 1974, according to new data from Russell/Mellon Analytical Services. In their third consecutive year of negative returns, pooled funds suffered average losses of 18.1%, a reflection of...

Asset Management News: SimCorp overhauls ADAM back office with new software.(Allianz Dresdner Asset Management Deutschland)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Allianz Dresdner Asset Management (ADAM) Deutschland has signed a deal for SimCorp Dimension to take over its back office management. ADAM Deutschland, which is part of the Allianz Group, is one of Germany's largest asset management firms...

Asset Management News: New year brings long/short fund to Dutch investors.(Permal Investment Management and Credit Agricole Asset Management enter market)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Permal Investment Management and Credit Agricole Asset Management are the first players of 2003 to enter the competitive Dutch market with funds of hedge funds. The Permal Multi-Manager Fund has opened for business to Dutch investors...

Asset Management News: Netherlands goes Green with AIPG fund of hedge funds.(Credit Agricole launches Green Way Arbitrage )(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Through its Alternative Investment Products Group (CA-AIPG), Credit Agricole has launched the Green Way Arbitrage, a fund of hedge funds specialising in aribtrage, in the Netherlands. Over the past 10 years, AIPG has built up an investment...

News Analysis: Constructing a property benchmark.(limited partnership real estate investments)
February 3, 2003... A new benchmark index of European indirect property investments looks set to be the first step in bringing more pension money to what is already a E30bn market. ABN AMRO and Investment Property Databank (IPD) released in December what they...

Comment & Analysis: Dutch pensions: no longer a role model?(Industry Overview)
February 3, 2003... The Dutch pension system is in turmoil: falling equity markets have eroded asset values and the measures required by the regulator (PVK) to restore funding deficits and reinstate investment buffers are seriously affecting the profitability of...

Comment & Analysis: Feeling the heat.(demographic data, trends and pensions)
February 3, 2003... Pensions are becoming a hot issue these days. because of the growing demographic imbalances which are plaguing European countries with ageing populations. To be fair, the problem has long been known, and in some cases, measures have been...

Leader: Some pensioners are more equal than others.(in European Commission)(Industry Overview)
February 3, 2003... Within the 164 closely-typed pages of the European Commission's latest report on sustainable pensions is contained enough information to confirm all your worst fears about our continent's financial future. There is also enough information...

Survey: Austria - Scaling neu heights.(Abfertigung neu, severance pay provision)
February 3, 2003... Austria's new supplementary retirement saving system started this year. Abfertigung - in Austria at least - means severance pay provision, and was hitherto financed by companies' on-balance sheet book reserves. Abfertigung neu was conceived in...

Survey: Austria - Consolidate to accumulate.
February 3, 2003... The Austrian legislator officially allowed KAGs to sub-advise services in 1998, according to paragraph three of the country's investment funds law. That has given Austrian investment management groups four years' more experience than German...

Interview: NIB Capital - Capitalising on market strengths.(Interview)(Company Profile)
February 3, 2003... The list of big institutional private equity investors in Europe is not all that long. There is Germany's Allianz, Britain's Wellcome Trust and Danish pension fund ATP, in no particular order. But when it comes to managing pension funds'...

Interview: NIB Capital - Puncturing others' self-delusion.(over half of surveyed professional private equity investors in Europe think they rank in the top quartile; how to pick venture capital managers)
February 3, 2003... As reported in epn last month, an AltAssets survey of professional private equity investors in Europe found more than half believed themselves to be top quartile. In the UK, that figure was closer to three-quarters. How do NIB Capital and other...

Pensions Snapshot: Finland.
February 3, 2003... A restructuring of benefits under Finland's TEL-Basic (TEL-B) first pillar pension provision is pending. Membership of TEL-B is compulsory for all employed, self-employed and part time employees. Benefits are pre-funded and accrue on a defined...

Pensions Snapshot: Finland - In brief.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... - Finnish insurance companies dominate the market for delivering TEL-B pensions. These companies have mutual status, offer membership rights to with-profit policy holders, and distribute surpluses to members. Of these companies, by far the...

News: NIB to restart pitching for external mandates.
February 17, 2003... The hague-based NIB plans to launch an independent asset management unit to offer leveraged credit instruments to the European institutional investment community in the second half of the year. The unit, which will at least initially...

News: SSgA ends E350m DC venture.(State Street Global Advisors ends defined contribution venture)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has ended its Italian joint venture with Mediolanum to manage money for defined contribution pension schemes. The four-year-old alliance brought in 12 institutional mandates worth approximately E350m,...

News: Innovest tackles burning issue.(firm launches overlay product)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... Innovest is launching an overlay product aimed at quantifying downside share price risk due to climate issues. Dr Matthew J Kiernan, Innovest's chief executive, said the Carbon Beta product will calculate the risk to institutional...

News: European Commission threatens Denmark with legal action.
February 17, 2003... Pan-European pension funds are one stage closer to reality this month as the European Commission quizzed half a dozen member states on discriminatory tax regimes. Top of the list is Denmark. The Commission has formally asked it to offer the...

News: Pan-European occupational funds.(pension funds)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... The Holy Grail for many pension professionals is one fund for all European employees. It is ironic that some of the most energetic adventurers on this quest work for US-headquartered companies. Like the Commission, these companies are seeking...

News: Parliamentarians improve directive.(European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs debates on occupation schemes discussed)
February 17, 2003... Pro pension fund members of European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs committee fight this week to improve the directive on occupational schemes. Among the proposed amendments are the reinstatement of a five-year limit on the...

Scheme News: Work until you are 65.(minimum age of retirement in Demark discussed)
February 17, 2003... Dutch lawmakers are weighing up making 65 the new minimum age of retirement, according to Peter J C Borgdorff, director of the association of industry- wide pension funds (VB). The proposal would appear before the Hague parliament next year at...

Scheme News: German managers call for 401(k) accounts.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... Germany's investment management association, the BVI, is proposing 401(k)- style individual pension accounts to encourage retirement saving. The suggestion, made by Dr Markus RieB, a BVI board member and managing director of the Allianz...

Asset Management News: Irreversible losses?(2003 Global Investment Returns Yearbook discussed)(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... Stock markets across the globe had US$13,000billion wiped off their value between the end of 1999 and 2002 and the stock market stands just a 50% chance of recovering that value by 2018, according to a new study. The 2003 Global Investment...

Asset Management News: More fixed income ETFs on the way.(exchange-traded funds )(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... Indexchange of Munich is planning a raft of mixed duration fixed income exchange-traded fund (ETF) products aimed at smaller and medium-sized institutional investors. This follows the launch of Europe's first fixed income ETF, which...

Asset Management News: Fabien Pictet to instigate GEM fund.(Fabien Pictet & Partners to launch bond hedge fund)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... Investment Group Fabien Pictet & Partners has announced it will launch a new bond hedge fund to capitalise on the comparatively strong performance from global emerging markets (GEMs). The GEMs Bond Fund is the fourth major fund launched by the...

Asset Management News: Fortis and ISMA alliance initiate daily indices.(International Securities Market Association )(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... The International Securities Market Association (ISMA) has teamed up with Brussels-based Fortis Bank to launch new daily sector indices for the fixed income market. The indices, which will be available from the ISMA website free of charge,...

News: Belgian funds lose 12%.(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... Belgium's pension funds racked up average returns of -12.11% in 2002, according to the country's main pension fund association. The unaudited results, made available by the Belgian Association of Pension Funds (BVPF), were based on a survey of...

News: BVI wants separate accounting for long-term obligations.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... Germany's investment management association, the BVI, has called on the government to support it in permitting a pragmatic interpretation of IAS accounting standards for institutional investor's long-term Spezialfonds obligations. International...

News: Generali consolidates private equity in Cologne.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... Generali is in the process of consolidating its private equity management activities under one roof in order to be in a better position to grow the business once markets turn around, epn has learned. Subsidiaries of the Trieste-based financial...

News Analysis: Satellites are on the launch pad.(alternative investments discussed)(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... Alternative investments are certainly a hot topic these days. Hedge funds, private equity and property are getting a great deal of attention as European pension schemes grapple with the "time bomb" of unfunded pension liabilities. And no...

Comment & Analysis: Showing the real colour of the money.(German pension system discussed)(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... From 1 January last year, German workers have had the right to invest 4% of income in either a retail pension or an occupational fund - the first major expansion of work-related pensions for at least a generation. From the middle of 2001, it...

Leader: Looking beyond the cultural stereotypes.(winning business in France among financial service providers discussed)(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... The news in this issue's epn that TotalFinaElf's employee savings funds have already accumulated E3bn should be a revelation to all those who have been dozing through France's corporate reform. Financial service providers careless enough to...

Survey: Hedge funds - A great team together.(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... The yeaR 2002 has turned out to be a very peculiar year for hedge funds. Performance, if judging by the CSFB Tremont index, stood on average at 3.04%, or slightly lower than the 2001 vintage during which the hedge fund index returned 4.42%....

Survey: Hedge funds - The hedge fund graveyard.(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... With an overperformance of more than 20% against the major equity indices, it should be a shining year for hedge funds. Many management styles have on average earned performance in the high single digits, and this despite the very volatile...

Survey: Hedge funds - The epn survey: bulge bracket banks win again.(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... The survey: hedge funds and their service providers Managing money is always a time-consuming business. While all traditional asset managers will agree to this, it is even more so in the case of a hedge fund manager. While the...

Survey: Hedge funds - At the crossroads of prime brokerage.(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... From the point of view of the equity house, prime brokerage has become more important because of the nature of the business flows that derive from working with a hedge fund. While the trend has begun to reverse, the hedge fund industry has...

Survey: Hedge funds - The intricacies of performance fees accounting.(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... As an investor, it is very easy to assume that the funds in which you invest will be properly administered. And for the average investor used to invest into mutual funds, UCITs or SICAVs, the assumption is unlikely to be either disproved or...

Research Update: How do retirement ages depend on stock market returns?(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... The rapid increases and declines in the stock market in the past couple of years have had a clear and direct impact on retirement incomes of those near retirement age who are heavily dependent on defined contribution pensions. Do individuals...

Fund Portrait: TotalFinaElf - Going the extra mile.( TotalFinaElf Group Savings Plan, private pension discussed discussed)
February 17, 2003... Oil and petrochemicals giant TotalFinaElf went through a dizzying transformation at the turn of the millennium, when in 1999, French oil company Total bought Belgium-based Petrofina, pausing only briefly before acquiring French rival Elf...

Pensions Snapshot: Lithuania.(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... Like other former Communist countries in Eastern Europe, Lithuania is mid-way through pension reform. With aid from the World Bank, it is seeking to implement a three pillar pension system. A further round of legislation to this effect was...

Pensions Snapshot: Lithuania - In brief.(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
February 17, 2003... - Under current legislation second pillar pension funds must guarantee members a yield of not less than 50% or -2% of the rolling average return from all sector pension funds over a 36 month period. If they fail to meet this hurdle, funds will...