epn: European Pensions & Investment News articles from September 2004

epn: European Pensions & Investment News archives from September 2004

News: Swiss pension funds slate rate rise plan.
September 13, 2004... The Swiss pensions industry has attacked the government's move to raise the minimum interest rate for occupational pension funds and insurers as a purely political move. Under a proposal from the Federal Council member Pascal Couchpin, the...

News: Danish fund targets US venture capital markets.
September 13, 2004... The Danish Industriens Pensions is set to move into the US venture capital markets. The E2.3bn fund recently invested a further Dkr40m (E5.4m) in Danish private equity. It first invested in the asset class in 2000. Jan Oestergaard,...

News: ABP completes CIO reshuffle.
September 13, 2004... The E150bn Dutch pension fund ABP has completed a reshuffle of its investment operation. Jan Straatman, CIO for equities, also becomes CIO for fixed income investments, taking over from Paul Spijkers, currently CEO of ABP Investments' US...

News: Japanese recovery provokes new interest.
September 13, 2004... With oil prices rising and the prospect of stock market turbulence during November's US presidential elections, investment mangers are taking a more positive stance towards Japan. Japan's markets have staged a recovery in 2004, with the...

News: Dutch VB delays code.
September 13, 2004... The Dutch association for industry-wide pension funds (VB) has dropped its plan to finalise a code for pension fund governance by November following disagreement among experts, funds and industry bodies. Its adoption is now delayed until spring...

News: Sfn ditches ING for Barclays.
September 13, 2004... The early retirement fund for the Dutch utility sector has transferred a E175m balanced mandate from ING Investment Management (IIM) to Barclays Global Investors, citing underperformance as its grounds. In its annual report Stichting...

News: News in brief.
September 13, 2004... CSLP gains Czech clients Credit Suisse Life and Pensions (CSLP) emerged as the clear leader in terms of new Czech pension fund clients attracted for the first six months of the year. CSLP took on an additional 46,000 participants, followed...

News: Macquarie buys in to gas distribution.
September 13, 2004... The Macquarie European Infrastructure fund hopes to increase its base of pension fund clients following a further move into infrastructure assets. As part of a consortium, the E427m fund has acquired the UK's Wales and the West Gas...

News: Union Investment brings in specialist.
September 13, 2004... Germany's Union Investment, a second-tier manager of institutional funds, has brought in a specialist in alternative investment products in a bid to broaden its appeal among institutional investors in Germany. The specialist is 44-year-old...

News: People on the move.
September 13, 2004... JPMF hires Del Vecchio JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management has beefed up its hedge fund division with the appointment of Frank Del Vecchio as head of currency research. Joining from Citigroup Global Markets where he was a director of the...

News: Cominvest to launch its first fund of hedge funds.
September 13, 2004... Cominvest, the asset management arm of Germany's Commerzbank, is preparing to launch its first ever fund of hedge funds aimed at German institutional investors. The launch of the product, known in German as a Dachhedgefonds, is scheduled...

News: Germans look to foreign property for returns.
September 13, 2004... In their bid for predictable returns, German institutional investors are raising their property allocations, almost exclusively by increasing their indirect foreign holdings on diversification grounds. This is good news for international...

News: TRP expands into Sweden.
September 13, 2004... US global investment giant T Rowe Price has extended its reach into Europe with a new office opened in Sweden and a further planned in the near future in Switzerland. Johan Elmquist will run the office charged with expanding the firm's...

News: German rules welcomed.
September 13, 2004... The long-awaited rules for German insurers and Pensionskassen (pension funds) on hedge fund investing, finally published in early September in a circular by the German financial services regulator BaFin, are being welcomed by industry experts....

News: EU Watch.
September 13, 2004... Moves to loosen the Stability and Growth Pact could provide a boost to private pensions. As countries struggle to remain inside the European Commission's (EC) financial strictures, the question of long-term debt sustainability has become...

News: Industry gears up to working time account solutions for Germany.
September 13, 2004... Societe Generale (SG), Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM), dbi Dresdnerbank Investment Management, Ampega Investment and several major German insurance groups are among the firms developing asset management and administrative concepts to cater...

News: Mutual fund investing takes off among German institutions.
September 13, 2004... While institutional investors in the UK and Switzerland routinely invest in mutual funds, this has so far not been practice among their peers in Germany. German institutions have traditionally preferred using so-called Spezialfonds,...

News Analysis: Polish reform doomed say experts.
September 13, 2004... Poland's IKE third pillar pension reform is set to fail, according to pension fund managers in Warsaw, and is likely to attract only 1-2m savers annually. Sceptical voices have pointed out that not only are the tax breaks in the IKE...

Comment: Leader - Failing to learn pensions lessons.
September 13, 2004... Earlier this year epn spoke with a senior academic associated with the OECD in a conversation that revolved around pension reform in eastern Europe. Inter-organisational rivalries aside, our contact was concerned that the World Bank has...

Comment: World View - Restructuring Europe.
September 13, 2004... World growth is currently being questioned. Economic weakness is perceived to be developing in the US and Asia, particularly China, following a rapid economic expansion. European growth is mostly viewed with scepticism. Discussion circles...

Comment: Industry Voice - The decline of alpha.
September 13, 2004... There has been much recent discussion about the apparent decline in alpha generated by hedge fund managers. Is this the case, or a distortion of the facts? To consider this we shall first look at whether hedge funds solely rely on alpha as...

Comment: Mephisto.
September 13, 2004... Usually refers to an upturn in the equity markets, but can equally be applied to the movements of fund managers as said recovering markets exponentially hike their bonuses. And, just as the Japanese stock markets, are hitting (relative)...

Special Focus: Germany - Exiting German property.
September 13, 2004... German institutional investors are looking to increase their allocation to real estate in the coming years and managers from as far apart as the US and New Zealand are on the road to tout their wares. Attractive on-going returns of 6-10% -...

Special Focus: Germany - Property fund providers eager to meet new demand.
September 13, 2004... Property investment companies are launching products to meet institutional investor demand for portfolio diversification and new providers are entering the German market. Regional and sector specialist products are particularly in demand...

Special Focus: Germany - BVV comments on new rules.
September 13, 2004... The regulations concerning the investments of restricted capital of insurance-type investors such as German Pensionskassen have been in force since 1 January 2002, but have been adapted following this year's amendments to the German Investment...

Hedge Funds: Tackling the legal issues of hedge fund investments.
September 13, 2004... "Hedge fund investment by pension funds can throw up some difficult legal issues," warns Simon Gleeson, a partner specialising in this area with international law firm Allen & Overy. These difficulties are for two reasons. First, the legal...

Manager Profile: Blue Sky Group - Keeping KLM's pensions airborne.
September 13, 2004... Buffeted by rain and strong northerly winds the Wright Brothers embarked upon the first powered flight in December 1903. Just 16 years later, when air travel was still the preserve of the rich - and occasionally foolhardy - KLM Royal Dutch...

Pensions Snapshot: Denmark.
September 13, 2004... The Danish government is under much less pressure than some of its European peers. Unlike Spain, Germany, Austria and Italy, Denmark has one of the highest fertility rates on the continent. At the same time, almost 80% of its...

News: NPRF in E2bn property and private equity turnaround.
September 27, 2004... The E10.6bn Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) is to invest approximately 20% (E2bn) of assets in private equity and property. It is to hire at least two more fund managers, before the end of the year to handle the move. This is...

News: Standard Life to launch liability matching fund.
September 27, 2004... Standard Life Investments is preparing to roll out a pooled fund for European pension funds and life insurers tailored to help them match their liabilities, according to Heiko Dahse, responsible for the firm's business in Germany, Switzerland...

News: Fixed income managers gain.
September 27, 2004... Concerns about falling bonds yields and monetary tightening in the US has not put pension funds off the bond market. The results of epn's latest pan- European fixed income survey show investment managers have picked up almost E7.5bn of new...

News: Yukos' shadow hangs over Russian markets.
September 27, 2004... Russia's equity markets are intricately linked with the fate of oil giant Yukos. Following the arrest of its chief executive and main shareholder, Mikhail Khordokovsky, Yukos' share price has slid 67%. Vacillations by the Kremlin over...

News: Dutch reform backlash.
September 27, 2004... The Dutch industry-wide pension fund association, the VB, has joined the E52bn PGGM pension fund and trade unions in protesting against government proposals to restrict early retirement and open the market for pre-pension funds to insurers and...

News: Minister hints at wider review.
September 27, 2004... Sweden's minister for International Economic Affairs and Financial Markets, Gunnar Lund, has hinted that the forthcoming review of the premium pension system may be more wide-ranging than hitherto suggested. Asset managers permitted to remain...

News: News in brief.
September 27, 2004... Swiss schemes still struggling Swiss pension schemes have not fully recovered from the difficult stock market years and are being impeded by unrealistic state regulation, according to a survey by Swissca and Prevista Investment Foundation...

News: PKA ditches Daiwa.
September 27, 2004... Daiwa's asset management arm has lost out to State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) as Danish pensions giant PKA transferred a $100m mandate citing problems with performance. Pensionskassernes Administration, which administers E9.8bn for...

News: New CEO shakes up Robeco board.
September 27, 2004... New Robeco CEO George Moller has stamped his authority on the Rotterdam-based investment house by clearing out a layer of senior management. Moller was appointed head of the Dutch asset manager in July charged with restructuring the...

News: People on the move.
September 27, 2004... Schroders gains Conway Schroder Investment Management has appointed Allan Conway as head of emerging market equities. Conway joins Schroders from WestLB Asset Management where he was head of global emerging markets and chief executive...

News: Mercer survey finds pressure for mergers.
September 27, 2004... increasing use of cross-border retirement plans is putting pressure on global custodians and pension fund administrators to consolidate, a survey has revealed. The 2004 Financial Management of Multinational Retirement Plans Survey,...

News: European data planned in Russell/Mellon AMI upgrade.
September 27, 2004... Russell/Mellon Europe is gearing up to offer more Europe-oriented product data as part of an upgrade of its AMI asset manager database. It is also considering opening the database to pension funds, and has made a senior continental hire....

News: Allianz establishes new Swiss subsidiary.
September 27, 2004... Allianz Dresdner Asset Management (ADAM) has consolidated its European coverage with the establishment of a new subsidiary in Switzerland. Traditionally the firm has covered the Swiss markets out of Frankfurt, London and Munich. Christian...

News Analysis: SSgA to dissolve German KAG.
September 27, 2004... State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is to close its Munich-based German investment operation, or KAG, and is to leave the German fund administration services market, according to Klaus Esswein, managing director of SSgA in Germany. The...

News: French under pressure.
September 27, 2004... France's insurers, under pressure from the government, have pledged to invest E6bn of their assets in private equity over the next three years in an effort to reinvigorate that industry. Since the end of equity boom of the late 1990s,...

News: Custody win for ABN Amro.
September 27, 2004... ABN Amro Mellon has scored a victory over rival Citibank winning the global custody contract for the Swedish state E16bn AP1 fund - the firm's first Nordic client. Citibank has provided AP1, which manages part of Sweden's state pensions,...

News: News in brief.
September 27, 2004... Turkish ETF to boost equities Turkey's Finans Portfoy (FP) is set to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to overcome investors' traditional aversion to Turkish equities. The Dow Jones Istanbul 20 ETF will use the Dow Jones Turkey...

Comment: Leader - Solidarity wins out over Dutch courage.
September 27, 2004... A flicker of change in Dutch pension policy was to be observed from The Hague this month as the government made a proposal for a small - but distinct - move away from the concept of collective solidarity in pensions. The fact that the...

Comment: World View - Darkest before the dawn.
September 27, 2004... Investors, commentators and politicians are used to criticising continental Europe for its sluggishness and its inability to create flexible working conditions. Virtually no-one expects domestically driven growth to take place in Europe...

Comment: How to best invest in China.
September 27, 2004... In the debate over whether the Chinese economy will experience a hard landing in 2005, investors should not lose sight of the longer-term consequences of China's rapid integration into the world economy. China will profoundly affect the...

Comment: Mephisto.
September 27, 2004... Mephisto is eagerly awaiting the outcome of the US presidential elections. Not for who wins, but for the fate of Smokey the Log. Ethical investments were all the rage in the mid-90s before the stock market went off the boil and everyone...

Special Focus: Fixed income - The search for secure returns.
September 27, 2004... Despite fears that bond yields have peaked and that an 18-month turnaround in equities has pushed both the MSCI Europe and the S&P Europe 350 up by almost 40% on 2003 lows, pension fund managers are shifting more and more of their assets into...

Special Focus: Fixed income - Staff numbers: no signs of correlation.
September 27, 2004... Asset manager personnel numbers and fixed income assets under management seem to have no correlation, according to the results of epn's pan-European fixed income survey. State Street Global Advisors runs the largest amount of fixed income...

Fund Profile: Canton of Geneva - Swiss fund eyes foreign assets.
September 27, 2004... Caisse de Prevoyance du Canton de Geneve, the SFr5bn (E3.22bn) Canton of Geneva public employees' pension fund (CIA), has battled hard to claw back the negative returns of 2001 and 2002 when it returned -4.1% and -6.24% respectively. But...

Pensions Snapshot: Norway.
September 27, 2004... Norway has completed a three-year survey of its pensions system. In its report, Modernising the National Insurance Scheme - Sustainable Pensions for the Future, a pension commission was blunt in its assessment of the problems. In essence, it...