epn: European Pensions & Investment News articles from March 2008

epn: European Pensions & Investment News archives from March 2008

News: UBS goes external after switching to 'CDC' scheme.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Spencer Anderson Switzerland UBS' SFr22bn (13.9bn) pension fund will begin issuing external mandates by the end of this year. Christoph Schenk, managing director and chairman of the investment board for the fund, told epn...

News: In Numbers.
March 10, 2008... 20 - The amount in millions of euros that Schroder Property spent to purchase a logistics centre in Brembio, Italy. The location is just south of the country's economic hub Milan. Schroder said the acquisition represented a gross initial yield...

News: CERN moves in the direction of absolute returns.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Spencer Anderson The European Organization for Nuclear Research's (CERN) pension fund intends to push more assets towards absolute return strategies over the next few months. Christian Cuenoud, manager of the fund, would not...

News: Publica takes strides to widen its universe.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Spencer Anderson Switzerland Publica, the SFr33bn (20.9bn) Swiss pension fund for government employees, is planning to move into commodities and further diversify its fixed income portfolio. The fund has recently...

News: Janus prepares for Europe and Asia.
March 10, 2008... Janus Capital, the Denver-based investment manager with $206.7bn (136.1bn) in assets under management, is to launch a European equity product this year, which it will follow up with an Asian equity fund launch in 2009. The firm, which...

News in Brief.
March 10, 2008... BlueBay Asset Management expects to boost its Nordic clients following the launch of its emerging market corporate fund. "We've seen particularly strong interest in emerging market corporate debt from investors in northern Europe," said...

News in Brief.
March 10, 2008... Raiffeisen Capital Management believes investors are overlooking key up-and- coming countries like Kazakhstan and Ukraine, when focusing only on Russia, China and India. Not only raw materials, but private consumption is driving economic growth...

News: LCP plans European subsidiary upsurge.
March 10, 2008... Lane, Clark & Peacock (LCP) is looking to expand its presence in Europe with the establishment of more European subsidiaries, according to its Swiss subsidiary Libera. Jurg Walter, actuary and certified pensions expert at Libera, said the...

News: Fidelity and Mercer to target French-speaking Switzerland.
March 10, 2008... Switzerland Fidelity and Mercer are set to add more staff to their Swiss offices this year, particularly in the French-speaking region. Both firms have made noises about the region in general, indicating they are looking at expanding...

People News: Slyngstad cuts NBIM's executive team in half.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Caroline Liinanki Norway Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the manager of the Norwegian giant NKr2009bn (254bn) Government Pension Fund - Global, has restructured its investment department and reduced its executive team...

News: Corestone to add staff in Euro drive.
March 10, 2008... Corestone Investment Managers is set to add personnel to help it expand in Europe and work on more sophisticate asset classes. Martin Mylnar, managing director of the firm, told epn that the company was targeting mid to small-sized pension...

People News: People on the Move.
March 10, 2008... Aberdeen Asset Management has appointed James Laing as head of pan-European equities. Mr Laing joined the firm in 2000 and was most recently a senior investment manager in the pan-European equity team. Its former head over the past five years,...

News Analysis: Finland incites domestic dispute over REITs structure.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Caroline Liinanki The Finnish government has disappointed pension funds. This time it is over its plans to introduce real estate investment trusts (REITs). The pension fund community wants the new REITs structure to cover more than...

Comment: Leader - Paying champagne money for egg and chips service?
March 10, 2008... Byline: Chris Newlands Nobody likes paying fees, and pension fund managers are no exception. You can imagine then their distress on reading the latest research report from Watson Wyatt, which found that investors are paying, on average,...

Comment: Industry voice - Downshifting before the bend.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Robert Parker Just three months in and 2008 has experienced continued volatility in the financial markets - a reaction, no doubt, to ongoing concerns about the weak condition of the US economy and its impact on the rest of the...

Comment: Mephisto - A strong vote of confidence - and competence.
March 10, 2008... At least fund managers have something to smile about in 2008: they won't have to worry about being elected the 44th president of the United States. Honestly, who would want this job? Upon election, the economy will probably be in...

Fund Profile: Switzerland - World Trade Organization - Unique WTO enjoys carefree investment.(Company overview)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Spencer Anderson The World Trade Organization's (WTO) 226m defined benefit (DB) pension scheme is both aggressive and unique. Aggressive in the sense that it has 70 per cent of its assets in equities, and unique in that, as an...

The Specialist: DC default solutions - Serving up an appetising DC default solution.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Paul Price In the world of defined contribution (DC) investing, where individual retirement savers carry the 'one chance to get it right' risk of their decisions, it is more important than ever that the asset management industry...

The Interview: Christoph Schenk - Managing Director and Chairman of the Investment Board, UBS.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Spencer Anderson The move from DB to CDC must have been a massive operation. How did you do it? It is still a huge operation. It's a difficult question but I think we planned well, especially my predecessor Franz Romanov. He...

News: Corem to quit France in search of easy life.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Spencer Anderson The 4.6bn Corem pension fund is considering moving its assets to Ireland, Luxembourg or Belgium. The move would make Corem the first French pension fund to domicile its assets outside the country. [] Vincent...

News: Infrastructure dismay for Norwegian fund.
March 24, 2008... Norway [] The Norwegian government is to recommend whether or not the NKr2009bn (254bn) Government Pension Fund - Global should include property within its portfolio on April 4. A yes vote is expected but the state is likely to say no to the...

News: Hermes prepares for mid-year success following three wins.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Caroline Liinanki Hermes Equity Ownership Services (EOS), which has doubled its number of clients since October last year and has just won a mandate from Dutch fund PNO, is expecting another four new mandates in the coming six...

News: ERAFP hungry for diversity despite French constraints.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Spencer Anderson France [] The 4.7bn Etablissement de Retraite Additionnelle de la Fonction Publique (ERAFP) pension fund is contemplating investments into private equity and commodities, but has so far been limited by domestic...

News: Aberdeen first with SRI property fund.
March 24, 2008... Aberdeen Property Investors is to launch what it claims is the first socially responsible investing (SRI) property fund, which will invest in environmentally friendly commercial property in the UK. [] "We have been looking into launching it for...

News in brief.
March 24, 2008... UBarclays Global Investors' (BGI) French office will release two new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) next month on the French stock exchange. Sylvain Favre-Gilly, senior equity sales manager for France at BGI, would not give more details on the...

News in brief.
March 24, 2008... Schroders is set to acquire Swiss Re Asset Management Funds. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, but the deal is expected to be finalised by the middle of the year. As part of the deal, Schroders will take on six funds that...

News in brief.
March 24, 2008... Funds domiciled in Luxembourg have been hit by the credit crunch, according to Claude Kremer, chairman of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry. Mr Kremer said that Luxembourg funds' assets have fallen by 5.2 per cent a year to date....

News: US and Europe still leading in infrastructure but tide may turn.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Caroline Liinanki Despite regarding South America, the Middle East and South East Asia as the most attractive markets, infrastructure fund managers are still predominantly investing in western Europe and North America. However, the...

News: Personal accounts will not pick up state pensions slack.
March 24, 2008... United Kingdom [] UK personal accounts are a poor substitute for failing state pensions and are not necessarily the best way forward, according to Alan Pickering, a partner at Watson Wyatt. [] "We are barking up the wrong tree here. Personal...

People news: HDF enters Singapore and US with high hopes.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Spencer Anderson Fund of hedge funds firm HDF Finance has opened two new offices in Singapore and New York. The firm is also interested in expanding into Spain. [] The moves come on the heels of two Japanese client wins for the...

People news: SGAM searches for localised staff.
March 24, 2008... Societe Generale Asset Management (SGAM) is to expand into Scandinavia and the Netherlands, and plans to add local staff. [] Frederic Cruzel, head of institutional sales for Europe at SGAM, said that the firm was not strong enough in these...

People on the move: Pioneer Alternative Investments.
March 24, 2008... Pioneer Alternative Investments has hired Lucio Vignati to the new role as senior equities trader in its European long/short team. He joins from Lehman Brothers, where he was director of European equity sales trading. Prior to that, he worked...

People on the move: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
March 24, 2008... Law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has appointed two partners to its global employment, pensions and benefits practice: Raquel Florez in Madrid and Brechje Nollen to its Amsterdam office. The appointments are part of the firm's election of...

People on the move: Standard Life Investments.
March 24, 2008... Standard Life Investments has recruited Philipp Bach as portfolio manager to its Paris-based property team. Mr Bach previously worked as an investment consultant for international investors at CB Richard Ellis. He will report to James...

People on the move: Northern Trust.
March 24, 2008... Northern Trust has hired Stephanie Howell as relationship manager to support UK corporate pension funds and local government pension schemes. The appointment follows the firm's recent win of two global custodian mandates from two UK local...

People on the move: Jonathan Atack.
March 24, 2008... Jonathan Atack has been appointed as chief financial and risk officer at ING Investment Management Europe. Mr Atack was previously head of group investor relations at the firm, which he joined in 2004. He is succeeded by Dorothy Hillenius, who...

People on the move: Keith Jecks.
March 24, 2008... Keith Jecks has rejoined Watson Wyatt to lead various business development initiatives from its Reigate office. He joins from ABN AMRO, where he was global head of pensions advisory for the past four years. The firm has also appointed Pallavi...

Comment: Leader - Investor alarm as a Bear enters the burning woods.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Chris Newlands - Editor So, is it time to get scared yet? Many thought that moment had come when Northern Rock, Britain's fifth biggest mortgage lender, started to wobble at the end of last year. [] Others felt it had come when...

Comment: Industry voice - Taking heads out of the sand.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Nigel Cresswell - Executive director at Lehman Brothers Pensions Advisory Service Pensions accounting is broken. Even Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), readily criticises the...

Comment: Mephisto - The man who put the Freud back in schadenfreude.
March 24, 2008... Ahh, Emperor Eliot. The King of Diamonds. Mr Number 9. Kristen's Little Helper. Where and when did it all go wrong? Mephisto had such high hopes. [] But then, probably scanning the internet late at night, Big Eliot came across the following...

Fund Profile: Denmark - Shedding bonds for an energetic future.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Caroline Liinanki Bond-heavy Sampension, the DKr93.5bn (12.5bn) Danish pension management company with two-thirds of its assets invested in fixed income, is set to add more alternatives at the expense of its bond holdings. And,...

Country Profile: France.
March 24, 2008... France's pension system is not the easiest to understand, nor is it especially inviting to asset managers. At least, not yet. Little by little, its market is opening up. Third pillar pensions are increasing in importance and nearing 100bn in...

Features: UK - Bulk annuity buy-outs - Insurance lifeguards to 'rescue' more pensions in 2008.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Owen Walker Just as UK pension schemes were able to lift their heads above the parapet and declare an age free of deficits, along came the credit crunch. Add to the mix proposals to change accounting standards and longevity...

Features: UK - Ethical, social and governance revolution - Trustees encouraged to fight the good fight.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Owen Walker John Lennon did it by lying in bed, while Jan Palach set himself on fire. But UK anti-war protestors are taking a more British approach to activism: using the financial clout of their pension funds. UK public sector...

The Specialist: Local currency emerging market debt - Get the best rates from your local emerging market.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Peter Eerdmans Investors have always been searching beyond their traditional comfort zone of equities and bonds for the asset class that could improve the risk-return profile of their portfolios. Until fairly recently, however,...

Economics: UK economic slowdown - UK must prepare to battle stunted growth.
March 24, 2008... Byline: Douglas Roberts The UK has enjoyed an uninterrupted run of quarterly economic growth extending back to the early 1990s. Even when the rest of the developed world faltered in 2001, following the implosion of the dotcom boom, the UK...