epn: European Pensions & Investment News articles from November 2007

epn: European Pensions & Investment News archives from November 2007

News: Regulation shift sees Vital get taste for risk.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Caroline Liinanki Vital, the ?27.5bn Norwegian life and pension insurance company, will increase its allocation to private equity, hedge funds and emerging market equities when new investment regulation come into force in January...

News: Rock and roll returns for Dutch ABP.
November 5, 2007... The Netherlands ABP, the Dutch ?220bn civil servants pension fund, is considering investing in rights and patents to music, film and industrial products as part of its new innovative investment fund. The fund is also looking to invest in...

News: Duo look set to revamp CAAM German business.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Spencer Anderson Germany Credit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM) intends to add two employees in 2008 to a recently opened branch office in Frankfurt. The new employees would be involved in client relationships for CAAM's...

News: Danish funds unite for Burma stance.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Kristen Paech European pension funds have traditionally opted for engagement over divestment but a stable of Denmark's biggest pension funds have gone a step further in support of the Danish government's position regarding...

News: Oyak looks to foreign investments.
November 5, 2007... Turkey Oyak, the ?1.7bn Turkish armed forces pension fund, will appoint its first external asset managers before the end of the year and will also make its first investments abroad. Until now, the fund has only invested in the domestic...

News in Brief: Fixed income manager Pimco is planning to expand in Italy.
November 5, 2007... Fixed income manager Pimco is planning to expand in Italy, France and the Iberian Peninsula. The asset management firm said it was actively seeking to expand in western Europe and that it was researching the possibility of opening an office in...

News in Brief: Mercer has launched a liability-driven investment (LDI).
November 5, 2007... Mercer has launched a liability-driven investment (LDI) that will enable clients to combine the firm's consulting advice with implementation via selected specialist managers. Mercer claims the LDI offering will help ease the burden for...

News in Brief: Austria's Pensionskassen industry will be one to watch over the next decade.
November 5, 2007... Austria's Pensionskassen industry will be one to watch over the next decade, according to Dr Fritz Janda, managing director of WKO, the Association of Austrian Occupational Pension Funds and the trade body behind Austria's second pillar...

News: Signatories call for more rigid framework for new T-Charter.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Kristen Paech UK transition managers have finally agreed on a code of best practice for the industry but two of its signatories claim the document leaves much to be desired. "The T-Charter is a voluntary code, not legally...

News: BoNYM calls for new 'cluster analysis' hedge fund labelling.
November 5, 2007... A new report calls for the classification of hedge funds to be turned on its head to avoid widespread confusion and unrealistic return expectations from investors. The study by The Bank of New York Mellon and independent research firm...

News: Aon appoints 12 in push for buy-out.
November 5, 2007... Aon has embarked on an aggressive expansion drive with the recruitment of 12 new members to its investment consulting practice in the last two months and more to follow. Many of the 20 appointments made this year have been plucked from...

People News: Italy move prompts New Star Euro push.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Spencer Anderson New Star International is set to expand across developed European markets following its first significant push into Italy. Philp Goldsmith, managing director, international at New Star explained to epn that the...

People News: Martinez-Aldama fills Maassen's shoes at EFRP.
November 5, 2007... Angel Martinez-Aldama has replaced Jaap Maassen as chairman of the European Federation for Retirement Provision (EFRP). Mr Martinez-Aldama was previously vice chairman and director general of Inverco, the Spanish Association of Investment and...

People on the Move: Koopdonk takes on Benelux for Credit Suisse.
November 5, 2007... Credit Suisse has appointed Robert Koopdonk as head of institutional clients for the Benelux region. Mr Koopdonk joins as a director and will be responsible for the distribution of institutional products and services. He will report to John...

People on the Move: Five make MD at GSAM.
November 5, 2007... Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has promoted five employees to managing director in response to strong business growth in Europe. The five are Amna Karim, Suneil Mahindru, Jonathan Sorrell, Vincenzo Volpe and Christoph von Reiche. GSAM...

People on the Move: Narvor fits in at Fixage.
November 5, 2007... Fixage, the French actuary and consultancy firm, has added Ronan Narvor to its team. Mr Narvor joins from AGF, where he worked as chief actuary of the collective pensions system. At Fixage, Mr Narvor will be responsible for pension clients on...

People on the Move: Oldencamp joins Cardano as Dutch MD.
November 5, 2007... Cardano has appointed Bart Oldenkamp as managing director of its Dutch-based team. Mr Oldenkamp will be responsible for business development and consulting. He joins from ABN Amro Asset Management, where he was head of LDI and structuring. The...

People on the Move: Males makes the move to Pictet.
November 5, 2007... Pictet Asset Management has named Simon Males as chief marketing officer for its UK institutional business. The position is within the business development team and Mr Males will work with UK institutional investors and consultants and report...

People on the Move: Allier focuses on fixed income at SocGen.
November 5, 2007... Marie-Anne Allier has become deputy head of fixed income investments at Societe Generale Asset Management. Ms Allier will be responsible for development and promotion of fixed income and money market investments as well as operational...

News Analysis: It is a small world and now is the time to think globally.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Kristen Paech "The globalisation of financial markets, which mirrors the conduct of business, will continue to expand in breadth and scope." So wrote Gary P. Brinson, widely regarded as one of the most influential people in...

Comment: Leader - Fingers crossed going green will not hit returns.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Chris Newlands The inclusion of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors within investment thinking is not a new concept - just a contentious one. There is no doubt that more and more pension funds are...

Industry Voice: Fight more HF regulation.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Stephen Oxley One of the many myths that has developed around hedge funds is that they are unregulated.These buccaneers of the financial world supposedly ride the high seas of the markets a law only unto themselves, pilfering from...

Mephisto: Centurians an Oasis of calm as pensions panic.
November 5, 2007... The pension fund headache that is longevity has just turned into a migraine. Having survived a turbulent summer, where surpluses turned to deficits and back to surpluses again, pension funds have been dealt the ultimate blow - their members...

Country Profile: Hungary.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Thomas Escritt It takes political courage to take a scalpel to something as close to people as their pension system, but Hungarian prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany does not want for that. Mr Gyurcsany, whose offhand admission that...

Features: 130/30 funds - Survival of the fittest as 130/30 floods market.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Kristen Paech Pension funds are not the only entities guilty of a herd mentality. Eager to jump on the 130/30 bandwagon, asset managers have bombarded the UK pensions market with fund launches, propelling this little-known strategy...

Features: 130/30 funds - In brief.
November 5, 2007... - Threadneedle has become the latest manager to launch a 130/30 offering for UK pension funds, with its American Extended Alpha Fund to be managed by US equities fund manager Stephen Moore. The fund's benchmark is the S&P 500 and institutional...

Features: Watch the headline kerning in here please.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Joe Bloggs While it is widely accepted that a reliable alpha tool requires high governance and that a cheap beta tool requires lower governance, it is generally less clear that effective liability-driven investment (LDI) can be a...

Features: 130/30 funds - Sorting the wheat from the chaff.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Kristen Paech Choice is clearly good for investors, and competition is beneficial for fund managers, but the proliferation of 130/30 funds and the pace at which they are hitting the market makes it increasingly difficult for...

The Specialist: Robert Barrington - How green is your fund manager?
November 5, 2007... Although the concept of systematic and well-informed shareholder engagement on environmental, social and governance (ESG - a term that has started to replace 'socially responsible investment' or SRI) issues has been pursued by a small number of...

The Interview: John Corrigan - Investment Director, NPRF.
November 5, 2007... Byline: Thomas Escritt Are you happy with your performance over your first five years? How could it be improved? We're happy with our performance so far. We started out with a plain vanilla policy of holding 80 per cent in equities and...

News: Rock and roll returns for Dutch ABP.
November 5, 2007... The Netherlands ABP, the Dutch 220bn civil servants pension fund, is considering investing in rights and patents to music, film and industrial products as part of its new innovative investment fund. The fund is also looking to invest in...

News: Oyak looks to foreign investments.
November 5, 2007... Turkey Oyak, the 1.7bn Turkish armed forces pension fund, will appoint its first external asset managers before the end of the year and will also make its first investments abroad. Until now, the fund has only invested in the domestic...

News: Tapiola reveals plans to up stake in alternatives.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Caroline Liinanki Tapiola, the GBP7.9bn Finnish pension insurance company, is planning to increase its so far limited allocation to alternatives. It will make the changes next year. "We want to have transparent investments and...

News: Finnish fund focuses on infrastructure.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Caroline Liinanki Finland Valtion Elakerahasto, the GBP12bn Finnish state pension fund, will have increased its exposure to alternatives by 50 per cent by the end of the year. It is also planning to add more infrastructure...

News: PPF considers mandate changes.
November 19, 2007... The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is considering a change to its active and passive mandate mix. Currently all of the fund's mandates are active, and Martin Clarke, executive director of financial risk at the PPF, told epn that the fund...

News in Brief: Pensions buyout firm Paternoster.
November 19, 2007... Pensions buyout firm Paternoster is to take over the management of Emap's earnings-related pension plan (EERPP) and the Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) pension scheme, involving a transfer of assets worth GBP170m (GBP241m) Ian Griffiths, Emap's...

News in Brief: HSBC Investments.
November 19, 2007... HSBC Investments has made its funds available to Polish institutional investors for the first time, as part of an expansion into Eastern Europe. The move follows the registration of 40 HSBC funds in Poland and an expansion of products....

News in Brief: The governance of UK defined contribution (DC) pension funds.
November 19, 2007... The governance of UK defined contribution (DC) pension funds is worryingly low, raising concerns that members are taking on more risks. An annual DC survey of FTSE 100 plans by Watson Wyatt found that although governance and member...

News: Supermarket giant looking at outsourcing.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Spencer Anderson The Netherlands Ahold's board of directors have held discussions on outsourcing a range of investment activities at the GBP2.1bn fund. According to Eric Huizing, investment director at the supermarket...

News: Dutch investment management continues strong performance.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Spencer Anderson The Netherlands Fiduciary management, multi-management and overlays have grown nearly 70 per cent in what was another impressive year for the Dutch investment management market. Of the GBP618bn in...

News: Italy last in Aon pension study.
November 19, 2007... Italy Italy fell seven places to come last in an Aon pension performance ranking of 25 of the 27 EU member states. Denmark topped the list for the second year running. The ranking, which looked at demographics, adequacy of state...

News: Nordic funds aim to increase exposure to equity products.
November 19, 2007... Preliminary findings from epn's latest quarterly investor survey for the Nordic region, of which full findings will be published in the December edition of nrpn, epn's sister publication, show that 40 per cent of Nordic pension and insurance...

People News: Return to Italy not ruled out by SWIP.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Spencer Anderson Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has not ruled out a return to Italy, after pulling its local operations out of the country two years ago. Currently the firm runs its southern European operations...

People News: Baring focuses on Benelux region.
November 19, 2007... Baring Asset Management is looking to hire a sales support person to help drive its offering in the Benelux region. The new hire will be based in firm's London office. Jonathan Cunningham, head of international institutional business at...

People on the move: Hewitt has poached.
November 19, 2007... Urs Schaffner from Mercer to become its Swiss head of the pension fund consulting team. Mr Schaffner had a similar role at Mercer, where he was a worldwide partner and head of its Swiss pensions consulting business. He will be based in...

People on the move: Baring Asset Management.
November 19, 2007... Baring Asset Management has added Andrew Lamb and Paul Morgan to its global equities team. Mr Lamb, who joins from Insight Investment Management, has been appointed senior US equity analyst. He will take on the position in January and...

People on the move: Northern Trust.
November 19, 2007... Northern Trust has appointed Anthony Stevens as head of client service to its Investment Risk and Analytical Services (IRAS) for asset manager clients in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The IRAS team provides risk management and investment...

People on the move: BNP Paribas has added Craig Gillespie.
November 19, 2007... BNP Paribas has added Craig Gillespie to its European pensions team. The pensions team is based in London and New York. Mr Gillespie will be based in London and will focus on creating structures and solutions for European pension plan...

People on the move: Prupim, the real estate investment manager.
November 19, 2007... Prupim, the real estate investment manager, has added two directors to its UK asset management team. Tim Hayns will lead the retail park team and joins from Morley Fund Management, where he was an asset manager. Simon Phipps was appointed...

News Analysis: Burma crisis triggers action over responsible investment.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Kristen Paech A search by PGGM, the GBP88bn Dutch pension fund, for emerging markets equities managers that have environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) at the core of their strategy is tangible evidence that pension...

Industry voice: Cheap and reliable tools.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Paul Trickett Here we look at two tools; 'cheap' beta that all investors can use regardless of their governance capabilities and 'reliable' alpha which should only be used by those with high governance arrangements. Before...

Mephisto: Denmark brings home the bacon in pension poll.
November 19, 2007... Mephisto is all knowing and all seeing - a truly global citizen, but this week he wishes he was a Dane. Not because he has a thing for Danish women or hot dogs but because he loves nothing more than the thought of a comfortable retirement. ...

Comment: Leader - Long-only products cannot be rubbished.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Chris Newlands, Editor Not that more proof was needed to show that investors across Europe are dumping traditional asset classes in favour of alternatives, but it nevertheless came this week in the form of a 68-page document by KPMG...

Fund Profile: Pension Protection Fund - Pension protection can be a risky business.(Company overview)
November 19, 2007... Byline: Spencer Anderson The Pension Protection Fund's (PPF) executive director of financial risk Martin Clarke describes the GBP1.14bn (GBP796m) fund as an insurance company without a marketing team. While the remark brings a chuckle as...

Features: Personal accounts - Who is footing the bill for personal pensions?
November 19, 2007... Byline: Hannah Williams At the beginning of this century the UK government began to worry how its aging population would be able to finance the ever-expanding period of retirement. It promptly commissioned pensions heavyweight, Lord Adair...

Responsible investment: Greater transparency to avoid controversy.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Hannah Williams Following the publication of the Stern report last year the UK pensions industry was awash with good intentions regarding responsible investment and shareholder engagement. However 12 months on reports indicate...

The Specialist: The area he specialises in - Opening up scope for more innovation.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Joe Bloggs While it is widely accepted that a reliable alpha tool requires high governance and that a cheap beta tool requires lower governance, it is generally less clear that effective liability-driven investment (LDI) can be a...

The Specialist: Liability measurement - The long or the short run for your money?
November 19, 2007... Byline: Nigel Cresswell To understand how well pension funds are meeting their pension liabilities you need, by definition, to look at two values; the assets and the liabilities. The funding deficit is assets minus liabilities, the...

Economics: Japan vs Europe - Signs of life in Japan as Europe slows down.
November 19, 2007... Byline: Robert Parker The last few weeks have seen a sense of calm return to the financial markets; this is in marked contrast to the summer months which were highly volatile. The nervousness in the markets seems to have partly dissipated...