epn: European Pensions & Investment News articles from June 2005

epn: European Pensions & Investment News archives from June 2005

News: ABN to pool assets.
June 6, 2005... ABN Amro is considering whether to pool its pension assets in a single EU fund, a senior director in the Netherlands has confirmed. The bank is set to make a decision this autumn on the exact nature of the pooling and was unable clarify the...

News: UK 50-year issue receives muted market response.
June 6, 2005... Demand for the UK's nominal GBP2.5bn (E3.7bn) 50-year bond, launched at the end of last month, failed to match the interest generated by the French treasury agency's E6bn 2055 note, which pulled in orders of E19.5bn. The UK deal drew bids...

News: FRR investments return 3.98% as fund continues selection drive.
June 6, 2005... In the four months to the end of April, FRR, the E19.26bn French pensions reserve fund, invested more than E6bn of its assets - almost the same amount as in its first eight months of operation. According to the fund's latest annual report,...

News: Efama proposes EU pension account.
June 6, 2005... The European Fund and Asset Management Association (Efama) took the first step on the torturous path towards a truly pan-European pension last week with the launch of its proposed European Personal Pension Account (Eppa). Despite admitting...

News: BVI seeks to put pension concept on the political agenda in German election.
June 6, 2005... The German fund managers association BVI hopes to capitalise on the country's early elections by proposing that the Christian Democrat and Liberal parties adopt its simplified Riester pension concept. Under the association's 2003 proposals,...

News: Pioneer looking to appoint five senior staff and four teams in major recruitment drive, says Perruccio.
June 6, 2005... Pioneer Investments is scouring the market for someone to fill its newly created global head of institutional business role. At the same time, Matteo Perruccio, the firm's global head of sales and distribution, told epn that the company is...

News: People on the move.
June 6, 2005... GLICENSTEIN TO HEAD BNP AM TEAM BNP Paribas Asset Management has appointed Gilles Glicenstein as its head of asset management business and chairman of BNP AM Group. Mr Glicenstein was the chief executive officer of BNP Paribas AM. He is...

News: Impending FTK rules herald deepening liabilities for Dutch funds with fall in long-term interest rates.
June 6, 2005... The Dutch long-term nominal interest rate has dropped below the fixed four per cent discount rate used by pension funds to calculate their liabilities, raising the spectre of increasing liabilities when these are measured against market value....

News: UK pension funds ditch equities for fixed-income instruments, finds IMA survey.
June 6, 2005... UK pension funds shifted a total of GBP40bn (E58bn) from equities to fixed- income instruments in 2005, the latest annual survey of the UK's Investment Management Association (IMA) has found. The finding confirms the general trend towards...

News: German doctors seek to diversify PE holdings.
June 6, 2005... Germany's Westfalen-Lippe doctors' pension fund, with assets of E6.6bn, is to diversify its existing private equity investments, which total E150m. The fund will look for advisers for the management of the portfolio and for manager selection....

News: UK balanced funds post dismal April figures.
June 6, 2005... UK balanced funds pulled in median returns of -2.6 per cent in April and took the average for the last three months down to -1.3 per cent, according to data from Russell/Mellon. UK bonds turned in the best results with index figures of 1.5...

News: Swedish women are hitting the glass ceiling.
June 6, 2005... The rate at which women are being recruited to the boards of Swedish publicly listed companies has slowed, and the number of women on the executive management committees of the same firms has fallen from 14.9 per cent to 11.6 over the past...

News: Hewitt survey reveals age discrimination in HR.
June 6, 2005... A Hewitt survey of human resource directors at 30 European multi-national companies has found that firms view older workers - those aged 50 plus - as a hindrance to the promotion opportunities of younger employees, even seeing it as an HR...

News: PWC survey results: financial industry failing to grasp the added-value of compliance.
June 6, 2005... A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) study has found that financial institutions are failing to tackle the evolving role of compliance at a time when their clients expect greater accountability. The survey, which examined the attitudes of 73...

News Analysis: Doing up an 'old banger'.
June 6, 2005... UCITS III promised a true single market in cross-border investment funds. But ask those fund managers who have tried to obtain a so-called fund passport and many are likely to sound disappointed. The same goes for cross border mergers -...

Comment: Leader - Not me guvnor, honest it ain't, I swear.
June 6, 2005... A UK government review of the implementation of its own Myners review raised some interesting issues last July. Many funds believed that they had complied with its principles, when in fact their compliance was patchy - what could be put in less...

Comment: World View - Waiting for the wheels to drop off?
June 6, 2005... Hedge funds emerged from the shadows with much fanfare as Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) spectacularly failed. But the failure of LTCM was soon forgotten as the financial markets shifted their attention first to the Russian and Turkish...

Comment: Industry Voice - When less can mean more.
June 6, 2005... Charlie McCreevy, the European commissioner for the single market and former Irish minister of finance, is emerging as a leading policymaker and a pragmatic advocate of EU financial services integration. His approach and priorities are...

Comment: Mephisto - They're only here for the beer.
June 6, 2005... Mephisto is feeling a bit down, and it's all because of the Investment Management Association (IMA) report that London's standing as the jewel in the European asset management crown is under threat from other European cities. Had the IMA...

UK Asset Allocation: UK pension funds stick with domestic bonds.
June 6, 2005... For the fourth consecutive year, UK pension funds have increased their exposure to domestic bonds - particularly nominal government debt - and reduced their average allocation to overseas bonds, according to UBS Global Asset Management's latest...

UK Round Table.
June 6, 2005... The questions: 1. Studies show that 44 per cent of UK workers are not making any contributions to a pension scheme, so is compulsion the answer? 2. Are differential retirement ages a solution to the UK's problems? 3. Will the UK...

Special Focus: Switzerland - Seeking sanctuary from reality?
June 6, 2005... Swiss commentators, like ostriches, seem to have their heads in the sand. Despite the fact that many public pension funds are critically underfunded - at less than 85 per cent as defined in Swiss law - not one person contacted by epn in the...

Special Focus: Switzerland - Hedging their bets.
June 6, 2005... Swiss institutional investors were more internationally minded in 2004, moving assets heavily into alternative investments and purchasing non-Swiss property. "There is still a trend for more diversification," says Beatt Zuagg, practice...

Fund Profile: Kyrkans Pensionskassa - Keeping faith with bonds.
June 6, 2005... Kyrkans pensionskassa (KP), the Swedish church pension fund, posted its highest ever annual return in 2004 when it scored a respectable 4.4 per cent on assets under management on behalf of employees of the Swedish church that total E735m...

Pensions Snapshot: Turkey.
June 6, 2005... According to the Turkish Pension Monitoring Centre (EGM), Turkey's private pensions system has attracted more than 456,000 members and accumulated E288m (YTL503m) in funds during its first 18 months of operation. Voluntary third-pillar...

News: Norwegian pension reforms to generate E3bn per year.
June 20, 2005... The Norwegian government's plan to introduce compulsory occupational pensions at the start of next year will generate contributions totalling almost E12bn by 2010 - or E2.9bn per year. Norway's 3.6m working citizens, who earn on average...

News: SLI scraps plan for euro LDI fund.
June 20, 2005... Standard Life Investments (SLI) has abandoned its earlier plans to launch a euro denominated version of its sterling liability managed credit fund, launched in March as a pooled liability-driven investment (LDI) solution for the UK pension...

News: First Dutch awards.
June 20, 2005... epn's Dutch-language sister publication npn is inviting pension funds in the Netherlands to enter the first-ever Dutch pension fund awards event. Funds can now enter for any of the 14 categories, which cover a variety of management and...

News: Dutch Star may miss deadline.
June 20, 2005... The Dutch government's advisory body on labour issues, Star, has told epn that it will not complete the code of conduct for pension funds in time to meet its deadline of 1 July 2005. This could affect the introduction of the new pension law, in...

News: Minister casts doubt on Dutch reform timetable.
June 20, 2005... The minister of social affairs in the Netherlands, Aart Jan de Geus, has admitted that the new pension law will probably not appear in the statute book before 1 January 2006, with uncertain implications for the new FTK financial assessment...

News: Danish Real Estate Club to invest E1bn in property.
June 20, 2005... The Danish Real Estate Club, the collaboration between PKA, PenSam, Sampension, PFA and FSP, is to invest E350m a year over the next three to five years in overseas property, while PKA - the E12.6bn pension fund for public social and health...

News: Environment Agency publishes pitching guide for asset management community.
June 20, 2005... The UK's Environment Agency, which last month appointed six specialist investment houses to run its c1.4bn Active Pension Fund, is to publish a guide to help asset managers when pitching for mandates with environmental and SRI targets. The...

News in brief - Mn restructures management.
June 20, 2005... Mn Services, the Dutch asset manager, has revealed changes in the management structure of its asset management operation. The manager has re-structured the department into two areas. The first covers equities, fixed income and treasury and will...

News in brief - High-yield bond from Sampo.
June 20, 2005... Sampo Fund Management in Helsinki has launched a new high-yield bond fund. The Mandatum High Yield is targeted at institutional investors interested in the opportunities of high-risk bonds and willing to accept significant volatility in...

News in brief - Large increase in companies qualifying for ethical index.
June 20, 2005... The number of companies qualifying for inclusion in the FTSE4Goood ethical index has increased by over a quarter since the launch of the product in 2001. In addition, 200 of the 450 companies that did not meet new environmental criteria...

News in brief - CDK to open London office.
June 20, 2005... CDK Group LLC (CDK), a New York based alternative investment management firm, has announced it is opening a London office. In London, CDK plans to build an initial staff of four with responsibility for research, sales and marketing. It is also...

News: Dutch SFB announces expansion plans.
June 20, 2005... The Amsterdam-based SFB group, originally the internal fund management operation of the Dutch building industry, has revealed plans to expand both domestically and internationally, and has rebranded itself Cordares. Although the company...

News: Aberdeen's Asia bond fund to launch in October.
June 20, 2005... Aberdeen Asset Management is to launch an Asia bond fund in the third quarter of this year and plans to roadshow the new product in September to build on the seed money it has already attracted. "We aim to have the fund available to...

News: Ilmarinen makes a E176m exploratory allocation to commodities.
June 20, 2005... Ilmarinen, the E17.6bn Finnish pensions insurance company, has made a cautious allocation to commodities but intends to observe the asset class before allocating any further funds. Jussi Laitinen, CIO at Ilmarinen, told epn that Ilmarinen...

News: Hedge fund industry calls for consumer-driven approach to alpha packaging.
June 20, 2005... A study carried out at Edhec Risk and Asset Management Research Centre has called for the hedge fund industry to adopt a consumer-driven approach to the packaging of alpha, as opposed to what it terms the current producer perspective. The...

News: Aberdeen manages Allianz's Stockholm property.
June 20, 2005... The Allianz insurance group has made its first foray in the Nordic property arena. It has appointed Aberdeen Property Investors to manage a newly acquired property in central Stockholm. The property, called Jericho 34, was bought by the German...

News: UK property returns higher than forecast.
June 20, 2005... UK commercial property will pull in returns of around 9 per cent a year over the next five years and will remain a highly attractive asset class for pension funds, according to Credit Suisse Asset Management. "At the beginning of the year...

News Analysis: FRR eases into the markets.
June 20, 2005... More than a year has passed since the French pensions reserve fund (FRR) awarded its first mandates to ten separate asset managers in April last year. But 14 months on - and on the eve of choosing Campbell Lutyens & Co to serve as financial...

Comment: Leader - Meeting in the middle.
June 20, 2005... German actuaries and pension professionals are often quick to defend their pension funding system from Anglo-Saxon attack. The last few years have seen predictions of the gradual decline of the traditional German book reserve system of...

Comment: World View - Is the next merger in the post?
June 20, 2005... Finally there is some movement in the German banking world. Over the past 10 yeas, consolidation among Europe's banking players has taken place as Germany watched by and large from the sidelines. Austrian, Italian and French banks continue...

Comment: Industry Voice - Tribal behaviour.
June 20, 2005... No topic of conversation is more certain to empty a room than the mention of EU pensions law. No ordinary bore can compete with an EU pensions bore. Yet watching 15 bureaucracies implement the same 2003 EU directive has been anthropologically...

Comment: Mephisto - An excercise in florid prose.
June 20, 2005... Wearing his clogs, Mephisto was interested last week to receive a communication from an organisation calling itself Cordares. He soon realised that this is the new name for the SFB, the asset management operation for the Dutch building industry...

Investment Style: Moving from return generation to risk control.
June 20, 2005... Investment styles can be driven as much by fashion as performance. While debate will always rage over whether a particular manager adds anything to the equation, or whether the alpha generated justifies the management fees, the old value-growth...

Special Focus: Hedge Funds - A new chaos theory?
June 20, 2005... Financiers have their own version of the chaos theory; it is when a Federal Reserve chairman advises caution in Washington, and markets across the world are hit by financial hurricanes. The last time Alan Greenspan spoke of "irrational...

Special Focus: Hedge Funds - Investor intentions.
June 20, 2005... Almost half the 120 pension fund clients attending F&C Asset Management's recent investment conference in London say they plan to up their exposure to alternative assets - no-one plans to reduce holdings. Some 13.5 per cent of funds said...

Special Focus: Hedge Funds - Dutch funds weigh FTK and diversification.
June 20, 2005... Two factors are prompting Dutch pension funds to move money to hedge funds - the new financial assessment framework regulation (FTK) and the general search for alpha through a broader range of asset classes. "Diversification is, after...

Special Focus: Hedge Funds - A herd ripe for culling.
June 20, 2005... The amount of money pouring into the hedge fund market outweighs the number of highly skilled hedge fund professionals by four to one, according to a report by investment consultant Watson Wyatt on hedge fund capacity, while some believe that...

Fund Profile:Westfalen-Lippe doctors' fund - Doctors' fund prescribes portable alpha.
June 20, 2005... The E6.6bn Westfalen-Lippe doctors' pension fund has a relatively young membership profile. With around 32,500 active members and 10,000 pensioners, the fund is in the fortunate - and increasingly unique - position of being able to meet current...

Pensions Snapshot: Czech Republic.
June 20, 2005... Pension reform has become the latest topic for Prague's political chattering classes. Earlier this month the senior opposition Civic Democrats (ODS) proposed the abolition of social insurance, replacing it instead with a flat rate tax of 15 per...