epn: European Pensions & Investment News articles from September 2002

epn: European Pensions & Investment News archives from September 2002

News: Dutch fund re-evaluates its equity risk premium.
September 2, 2002... The E150bn Dutch pension fund for public employees is to revise its equity risk premium calculation in a forthcoming asset and liability study, according to the fund's chief investment officer Jean Frijns. It will also review its strategic...

News: Deutsche Post pushes on with E1bn bond issue.
September 2, 2002... Deutsche Post, the semi-privatised German Post Office, has resumed plans for a E1bn benchmark bond issuance. The Bonn-based firm has appointed Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley as lead managers and is to embark on a roadshow...

News: Ecofin takes on ALM study.
September 2, 2002... Chemie Pensionsfonds, administered by HypoVereinsbank (HVB), has appointed the consultant Ecofin to carry out a full asset and liability study and to assist in the selection of external asset managers. Hans Melchiors, a director of the HVB...

News: BAFin plods through its pensions certifications.
September 2, 2002... BAFin, Germany's financial services regulator, has approved two further Pensionsfonds and one new Pensionskasse. The multi-company Pensionsfonds of the Bavarian group HypoVereinsbank (HVB) was approved on 13 August, while the Volksfursorge...

Scheme News: Polish funds under pressure.
September 2, 2002... Contributions to Poland's third pillar open pension funds reached a record E280m (1.143bn zlotys) in July, but poorly performing stock markets and poor asset allocation decisions mean that four providers may be unable to meet the guaranteed...

Scheme News: Flemish TV fund awards three briefs worth E127m.
September 2, 2002... The E271m pension fund of the Flemish public service broadcaster VRT has restructured its E127m fixed income portfolio and appointed three new managers - Western Asset Management, PIMCO and State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). The fund was...

National Statistics: Portugal - Portuguese fund returns tumble.
September 2, 2002... Portuguese pension funds have seen their worst first half year returns since the mid-1990s when the consultancy Watson Wyatt began measuring the market. But Carlos Ravara, investment consultant at Watson Wyatt in Lisbon, said the figures...

News: Russia inflates PPFs.
September 2, 2002... The Russian private pension funds market grew by more than 150% in 2001, according to the country's inspectorate of private pension funds. While in 2001 funds amounted to Rbs18.64bn (E0.6bn) they now amount to Rbs44.73bn. But the figures...

News: German Spezialfonds flows race ahead as mutual funds fall.
September 2, 2002... Germany's institutional investors poured money back into Spezialfonds this July, while mutual fund investment has all but collapsed. Spezialfonds, the tax advantaged vehicle exclusively for institutions, accounted for 80% of the E5bn in new...

People on the move: Fortis appoints three as it waltzes into Vienna.
September 2, 2002... Fortis Investment Management (FIM) has opened a new sales office in Vienna as part of its commitment to the Austrian and central and eastern European markets. The company believes these countries form a core element of its sales strategy and...

People on the move: Credit Suisse snaps up Dyer and Stephens.
September 2, 2002... Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) has strengthened its UK institutional team. Firstly it has seen the appointment of Sarah Dyer as a portfolio manager in the US equity team. Dyer re-joins the team from Trident Investment Management, as a...

Investment News: UK funds post poor returns.
September 2, 2002... More evidence has been produced that UK pension funds investing in bonds outperformed equity investment. But interestingly, this has not seen a significant switch away from equities. In the six months to 30 June, UK funds posted a negative...

Investment News: Morley launches SRI overlay programme.
September 2, 2002... Morley Fund Management has launched a socially responsible investment (SRI) overlay programme to promote the benefits of SRI. Noel Smyth, assistant head of business development, SRI at Morley, said: "One of the central planks of our SRI...

Investment News: Baring gambles on Russian market to buck world trend.
September 2, 2002... Baring Asset Management (BAM) is putting its faith in the Russian stock market to buck the trend of worldwide bear markets. BAM says that during the first six months of 2002, the Russian stock market (ROS Index) grew by 20.9% and last year...

Comment & Analysis: When best practice is no good.
September 2, 2002... I want to make the provocative claim that our industry's best practice for determining asset allocation is in fact fatally flawed. Worse still, on all sides of our industry we have been guilty of the egregious error of mistaking good luck for...

Comment & Analysis: The end of summer.
September 2, 2002... This year, pension fund executives are certainly urging on the end of the summer with more eagerness than usual. The holiday period is always a time of apathy and inactivity on European financial markets. Most of Continental Europe is virtually...

Leader: Room for vice as well as nice investing.
September 2, 2002... International individualistic capitalism is not a success, it is not clever, is not beautiful and it does not deliver the goods, concluded the British economist John Maynard Keynes in the aftermath of the First World War. In the current...

Survey: Italy - Talking with one voice.
September 2, 2002... It has been a summer of extraordinary weather in Italy. For some regions, too much heat; for others, far, far too much rain. And some places got both. After this meteorological mayhem, can we look to the Camera for some normality and calm?...

Survey: Italy - Money's too tight to pension.
September 2, 2002... Foreign asset managers looking to Italy may think twice before entering the market. AXA, Deutsche, Schroder Investment Management and Allianz are already there - the last under its Alleanza label. Others such as State Street Global Advisors...

Research Update: Pensions and democracy.
September 2, 2002... It is commonly argued that one key reason that pension reform has been slow to take place both in Europe and the United States is political. Voters who opt to reduce pay-as-you-go pensions and replace reduced benefits with some degree of...

Investment Feature: Making the investment journey across the water.
September 2, 2002... Let us recall that non-US investing took off in earnest during the early 1990s. At the time, typical plan sponsors had around 3% invested in non-US equity assets and, by shifting more and more stocks abroad, ended up with allocations of between...

Pensions Snapshot: Slovenia.
September 2, 2002... Slovenia is trying to transfer the burden of retirement provision away from the state and on to private means to ease the burden caused by its ageing population and to ensure accession to the EU. However, while tax reforms have increased...

Pensions Snapshot: Slovenia - In brief.
September 2, 2002... - Slovenia started its pension reform with a new act in January 2000 with assistance from the EU and the World Bank. First pillar benefits were reduced, the retirement age raised and the second pillar system introduced. - The government...

News: Swiss association expects minimum return to be 3.25%.
September 16, 2002... Swiss pension funds and insurance companies are not expecting minimum guaranteed returns to be reduced to 3%. Government officials will discuss the return insurance companies and pension funds must guarantee members - currently standing at 4% -...

News: Unrest in Germany as ABA challenges BVI.
September 16, 2002... The German Association of Investment Companies (BVI) does not sufficiently represent the interests of institutional investment providers, according to Boy-Jurgen Andresen, Chairman of the Occupational Pensions Association (ABA). At an ABA...

News: From Ericsson to Electrolux.
September 16, 2002... Hans Eklund has been appointed director of benefits at Electrolux, the Swedish manufacturer of household electrical products.He joins after nearly five years in a similar position with struggling telecommunications giant, Ericsson. He joined...

News: Only three DAX companies fund all obligations externally.
September 16, 2002... A lack of accounting transparency among leading German companies is preventing a thorough analysis of their pension obligations, according to Rolf Elgeti, one of the authors of a recent Commerzbank Securities report on DAX-30 companies' pension...

Scheme News: Soft blow for Swiss investments.
September 16, 2002... Swiss pension funds lost a median 5% in value in the first half of 2002, according to the ASIP/Watson Wyatt performance comparison. The median global equity performance was -18.4% with the top 5% of pension funds achieving -14.1%....

Scheme News: Oil fund puts e617m on the line.
September 16, 2002... The Norwegian Petroleum Fund is seeking managers for equity mandates totalling US$600m (2617m) in the telecommunications services and financials sectors.There are two global telecoms mandates, worth a total of US$400m, and one regional...

Asset Management News: BT seeds E269m small cap fund.
September 16, 2002... Hermes, the main asset manager for the British Telecom and Post Office pension plans, is launching an active European Smaller Companies fund. Sylvia Solomon joins as investment manager for the GBP170m (E269m) fund and Tracy Collins as...

Asset Management News: Manduca to head Deutsche.
September 16, 2002... Paul Manduca, head of Rothschild Asset Management (RAM), is set to join Deutsche Asset Management as chief executive officer. He replaces Udo Behrenwaldt who goes to one side as vice-chairman and senior adviser. Manduca does not join...

Asset Management News: Mixed fortunes for Irish pension funds as average loses 10% March to June.
September 16, 2002... Asset managers KBCAM and AIBIM had the worst performing pooled pension funds in Ireland in the last quarter, according to Mercer. The two returned -12.5% and -11.7% respectively from March to June. The average managed fund lost 10% of its...

News: Caparo fight deepens.
September 16, 2002... UK steelworkers are intensifying industrial action over their company's withdrawal of its defined benefit pension scheme. Workers at Caparo started a series of one-day strikes last month after talks broke down between employers and their...

News: ING transfers 100 London back office staff to BNY.
September 16, 2002... The Bank of New York (BNY) and ING have reached a global arrangement to outsource ING's international cash equities clearance and settlement operations to BNY. The services provided will vary geographically, and will include trade confirmations...

People on the move: Horlick joins Schroders board in global role.
September 16, 2002... Schroders has swooped for Richard Horlick, chief executive of Fidelity Management and Trust Company in Boston and head of Fidelity's US business. Horlick previously headed Fidelity's European business and will return to London to join the...

People on the move: Alofs covers Roelofs' sabbatical at Deutsche.
September 16, 2002... Gerard Roelofs, Deutsche Asset Management's (DeAM) country head for the Netherlands, is taking a six-month sabbatical. His replacement will be Michel Alofs. Alofs joined DeAM in September 2001 from DB Global Markets, where he was head of...

Investment Analysis: Pension Liabilities - Warning to companies on past performance optimism.
September 16, 2002... Optimistic assumptions about pension fund growth are flattering European companies' pre-tax profits by an average of 5%, according to analysts at Nomura. The research, which focussed on European and US pension funds, concluded that most are...

Hedge Fund Profile: Man-Arbitrage Strategies Ltd - Arbitrage strategies.
September 16, 2002... Who ever said Man Group's main area of expertise in alternative investment lay in managed futures? In fact, although Man Group has long been seen as a managed futures specialist, today the strategy only represents a sizeable, but shrinking...

Comment & Analysis: Valuing dividends.
September 16, 2002... A fter the roller-coaster ride of the last couple of months and nearly two and a half years of a bear market, it is no surprise to find that there is a raging debate going on as to whether value has finally been restored to the US market. ...

Comment & Analysis: A heavy schedule ahead.
September 16, 2002... In the present troubled economic and political climate, where there are fears of new terrorist strikes to commemorate 11 September and an imminent war with Iraq, European decision makers have to face key milestones. The first of these will...

Leader: Distinguishing true market leaders.
September 16, 2002... In a bear market, all news tends to be interpreted negatively. This is what Alan Brown, group chief investment officer at State Street Global Advisors, writes (see facing column). If he is right, the asset management industry itself should...

Special Survey: The Netherlands - Foreign flowering.
September 16, 2002... The Netherlands has a proud record of exporting financial services and the strongest occupational pension fund coverage in Europe. But globalisation has led to the competitive entry of foreign players into this E456bn market. The top three...

Special Survey: The Netherlands - Outsiders catch the Dutch by surprise.
September 16, 2002... Having a long-standing, wide-ranging, specialised investment offering has ensured that foreign asset managers have maintained the top positions in the Netherlands. "Foreign managers are so popular because Anglo-Saxon houses have a long...

Special Survey: The Netherlands - Strategic change pays dividends for F&C.
September 16, 2002... Not all fund management groups are subjected to a review of one of their largest client's business while still planning the model for a merged operation. So when the Dutch PMI metal sector pension fund decided to review its colossal E12.5bn...

Research Update: Annuities as a benchmark.
September 16, 2002... One of the more contentious areas of pension reform is whether individuals should be forced to annuitise at retirement or at some point thereafter. Many countries in Europe effectively require annuitisation for defined contribution (DC) funds....

Fund Portrait: Pressens Pensionskassa - Hacks report good return on property.
September 16, 2002... While property prices continue to grow and equities fall ever lower, real estate has never really seemed to be a credible alternative to securities. Most pension funds usually have some kind of allocation to real estate but it seldom makes...

Pensions Snapshot: France.
September 16, 2002... The news that PSA Peugeot-Citroen, France's biggest car maker, would launch a pension fund made the national headlines this spring. In a carefully-worded press release, the company said it was preparing for the future before a decline took...

Pensions Snapshot: France - The road ahead.
September 16, 2002... - PSA Peugeot-Citroen is not attempting to reinvent the wheel. Its new pension fund will ask 2% of employees, and contribute 4% from the employer. More significantly, this is only a top-up fund for managers and a few blue- collar workers - the...

News: DC shift the biggest issue for schemes, says epn poll.
September 30, 2002... A shift to defined contribution is the major trend in retirement provision, according to the triennial epn survey of European Retirement Plans in association with Watson Wyatt. The growth of flexible benefit arrangements came a close second...

News: Funds increase external briefs.
September 30, 2002... The future looks rosy for asset managers as pension funds are set to increase the number of mandates they tender to external firms, according to epn's latest institutional investment survey. Two-thirds of the funds responding to our survey...

News: CSFB chief says fears on ageing are premature.
September 30, 2002... The problem of an ageing population on European pensions has been over-rated, says Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). Giovanni Zanni, vice president in CSFB's European economics team puts the argument forward in a paper entitled...

News: Equity 'not safe' over 20 years.
September 30, 2002... Leading finance professor, Elroy Dimson, has warned that equities are not safe over 20 years, a commonly accepted "long view". The co-author of Triumph of the Optimists: 101 Years of Global Investment Returns cautioned that while figures...

News: Standard Life fund of funds raises E639m.
September 30, 2002... UK investment house Standard Life has made the first closure of its new private equity fund of funds raising E639m. European Strategic Partners II is now on course to achieve its target of raising E1bn by the final closure, expected to be...

Asset Management News: Industry forges direction.
September 30, 2002... The European Asset Management Association (EAMA) and the Federation des Fonds et Societes d'Investissement (FEFSI) are on the warpath to ensure the European asset management industry gets heard. A joint working party with representatives...

Asset Management News: Alternative investing guide for sound practice launched.
September 30, 2002... With the rapid growth of the hedge fund industry, the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has published a guide of sound practices for European hedge fund managers. The guide considers various practical aspects of...

People on the move: Stimpson takes partner role at Allen & Overy.
September 30, 2002... Allen & Overy has lured Maria Stimpson from Ashurst Morris Crisp as it expands its international pension practice. She joins as a partner. The pensions team comprises 32 specialist lawyers, including 11 partners worldwide. ...

People on the move: Fortis snaps up Van de Steen from Gartmore.
September 30, 2002... Fortis Investment Management (FIM), the autonomous asset manager of Fortis, has hired Patrick Van de Steen as head of marketing. He joins from Gartmore, where he was head of Continental Europe Retail and acting head of hedge funds. FIM has...

People on the move: Schroders gives Boehmer German role.
September 30, 2002... Schroder Investment Management has appointed Frank Boehmer as managing director and institutional sales manager for Germany. He joins Schroders from ABN AMRO Asset Management where he was a senior relationship manager in institutional sales....

People on the move: Brown goes to Credit Suisse.
September 30, 2002... Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) has appointed Caroline Brown to head up its credit research team. She joins CSAM from Goldman Sachs where she was a senior high yield analyst. She will report to Win Robbins, business head of European fixed...

Asset Management News: Hewitt and Dutch partner Heijnis tie the knot.
September 30, 2002... GLOBAL CONSULTING firm Hewitt Associates and its Dutch-based partner Heijnis en Koelman have integrated to create Hewitt Heijnis en Koelman. Subject to approval by the works council in the Netherlands, Heijnis en Koelman will become...

Asset Management News: ING will not inject cash into new opportunities.
September 30, 2002... Dutch financial giant ING is looking to save money on asset management via joint ventures. The company has said it does not want to invest significant amounts of capital into new opportunities. It is also restructuring its operations...

Hedge Fund Profile: Aspect Capital European Equity - Systematic addicts.
September 30, 2002... Imagine you designed one of the most effective trading systems and then launched one of the best performing systematic hedge funds around. Imagine you sold this company to a leading financial institution. Imagine you grow tired of all this,...

Comment & Analysis: Xenophobia and pensions.
September 30, 2002... Remember the definition of hell: a place where the Germans run the police force, the Italians the army, the Turks cook, and Dutch is the common language. Funny maybe, but the choice of foreigners betrays the joker's origin - an island off the...

Comment & Analysis: Where's the pricing power?
September 30, 2002... Is anyone else surprised by just how little pricing power there appears to be anywhere? And I don't just mean right now in the heart of an economic slowdown, I mean more generally. Throughout the bubble boom, from the end of 1994 to the end of...

Leader: Remembrance of things past.
September 30, 2002... At the start of September, the foremost bond investor in the US, Bill Gross of Pimco, wrote a wonderfully provocative article entitled Dow 5,000. Gross was having a pop at all those starry-eyed equity investors who saw the bull run of the...

EPN Quarterly Investment Survey: How can small fish survive?
September 30, 2002... While some asset management firms have just cut jobs as a belated response to the worldwide downturn, European pension funds' plans to increase their outsourced assets could spell better times ahead for the industry. The latest epn survey...

EPN Quarterly Investment Survey: Fund managers mirror market volatility.
September 30, 2002... Markets, as we have heard constantly over the past 18 months, are depressed. The result for pension funds has been a fall in value, which has led to the eradication of comfortable surpluses built up in the heady days of the 1990s. That has even...

EPN Quarterly Investment Survey: Allocation to rise by 18% at expense of bonds.
September 30, 2002... The future looks rosy for asset managers as pension funds are set to increase the number of mandates they tender to external firms. Two-thirds of the pension funds responding to our latest institutional investment survey said they were...

EPN Quarterly Investment Survey: Taking the decade view.
September 30, 2002... Bank of Ireland Asset Management and New Ireland were recently praised by consultant Mercer for having the best performance for balanced Irish pensions for the second quarter of this year. They returned -6.8% and -7.3% respectively. How...

Research Update: International lessons on public pension reserves.
September 30, 2002... The fundamental issue affecting European pensions is the lack of saving and therefore the need to either to raise taxes/contributions or slash future benefits. Individual accounts such as Riester pensions clearly represent one approach to...

Pensions Snapshot: Denmark.
September 30, 2002... Denmark sees itself as a guinea pig in Europe as its new accounting rules for pension funds come into effect. New rules that make pension funds calculate their assets according to market value have just been introduced to a mixed response...

Pensions Snapshot: Denmark - In brief.
September 30, 2002... - Danish pension funds must keep a constant check on their market value and notify the authorities if they are heading towards a deficit. They can then be forced to move into less risky asset classes until they are back on track. - Danish...