epn: European Pensions & Investment News articles from September 2007

epn: European Pensions & Investment News archives from September 2007

News: Keva diversification bid with alternatives move.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Caroline Liinanki Keva, the 23.6bn Finnish local government pension fund, has made its first investments in infrastructure and is planning a move into commodities and single hedge funds. The fund, which is in the process of...

News: Shift needed to save Swiss buffer.
September 10, 2007... Switzerland Demographic aging may run Switzerland's 17.5bn Federal Social Security Fund down to zero within 10 years if the basis on which it is funded does not change. This is the estimate of Switzerland's Federal Social Insurance...

News: Indexchange leads legal case against Glaxo.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Thomas Escritt Indexchange, the German exchange-traded fund provider that was recently acquired by Barclays Global Investors, is to act as lead plaintiff in a shareholder class action suit against GlaxoSmithKline. The case is...

News: Varma looks to up risk with hedge funds.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Caroline Liinanki Varma, the 29bn Finnish pension insurance firm, has raised its allocation to hedge funds from 8 per cent to 13 per cent and is also eager to increase its investments in infrastructure. The fund, which started...

News: Kapan set to break from bonds.
September 10, 2007... Sweden Kapan Pensioner, the 3.7bn pension fund for Swedish government employees, is to boost its alternatives portfolio from 15 to 25 per cent and is in the process of diversifying into a range of alternative assets at the expense of its...

News in Brief: Dutch pension fund giant PGGM has appointed a chairman.
September 10, 2007... Dutch pension fund giant PGGM has appointed a chairman of the executive board for its new administration cooperative. Martin van Rijn joins on 1 January 2008 when PGGM will split into a pension fund and an administrative organisation. ...

News in Brief: Despite UK pension funds taking a battering.
September 10, 2007... Despite UK pension funds taking a battering in the wake of the US sub-prime market crash, deficits decreased throughout August, according to Aon Consulting. The results of its monthly tracker showed the 200 largest UK pension funds' aggregate...

News in Brief: Consumer goods firm Diageo has nearly halved its pension scheme deficit.
September 10, 2007... Consumer goods firm Diageo has nearly halved its pension scheme deficit over the past 12 months, cutting its shortfall from GBP801m (1185m) to GBP419m. A Diageo spokesman said that the positive results were due to rising long-term bond yields...

People News: Langensjo poached for Pioneer position.(Company overview)
September 10, 2007... Byline: Caroline Liinanki Pioneer Investments has poached Aon Consulting's Swedish head Mats Langensjo to become its head of institutional business, Nordic region. The firm also plans to open an office in Stockholm. Mr Langensjo will...

People News: Seventh heaven for Watson Wyatt property team.
September 10, 2007... Watson Wyatt has responded to sharp growth in demand for real estate investment by expanding its team in the asset class. The appointment of Douglas Crawshaw, formerly a portfolio manager at Morley Fund Management, brings Watson Wyatt's...

People on the move: Musil Credit Suisse's Czech mate.
September 10, 2007... Credit Suisse has appointed Jiri Musil as head of distribution for asset management in the Czech Republic. He will be responsible for both retail and institutional distribution for the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. Mr Musil joins from...

People on the move: Lekander new Aberdeen CIO.
September 10, 2007... Aberdeen Property Investors has appointed Jon Lekander as chief investment officer. Mr Lekander, previously head of investment strategy, will in his new role focus on the implementation of defined investment strategies for Aberdeen's property...

People on the move: Boman takes on Swedish sales at Schroders.
September 10, 2007... Christian Boman has joined Schroders' Swedish office as a sales manager. Mr Boman will be part of Schroders' six strong team in the Nordic region, which is headed by Ketil Petersen, based in Denmark. Mr Boman joined from FIH Erhvervsbank...

People on the move: Pair added to Paternoster team.
September 10, 2007... Paternoster, the insurance company launched to take responsibility for risks associated with companies' defined benefit pension schemes, has made two appointments to its team. David Briscombe, previously chief financial officer at ING in India,...

People on the move: Boylan steps up for Morley CFO post.
September 10, 2007... Morley has appointed Siobhan Boylan as its chief financial officer. Ms Boylan, previously director of group financial reporting for Aviva,takes over from David Watson who has become CFO of Aviva Europe. Morley has also appointed Georgina...

News: BlackRock secures scientist fixed income fiduciary deal.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Thomas Escritt The Netherlands TNO, the 2.1bn Dutch pension fund for applied science researchers, has appointed BlackRock to run a fiduciary mandate covering fixed income and overlay management. Under the deal, which will...

News: State Street keeps FRR currency post.
September 10, 2007... France FRR, the 33bn French Pensions Reserve Fund, has reappointed State Street Global Advisors as its currency overlay manager. The fund put the contract, which was due to lapse after a period of three years, out to tender in June. The US...

News: UK pension schemes coming round to return-seeking assets.
September 10, 2007... United Kingdom The results of a Watson Wyatt survey imply a healthy scepticism about liability matching strategies on the part of UK corporate pension schemes. The survey found managers responsible for operating defined benefit (DB)...

Comment: Leader - Readers, welcome to our brave new world.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Chris Newlands, Editor Welcome to your new look epn. The summer period has drawn to a close and, while I suspect some of our colleagues are still making their way back from their summerhouses, it is a good time to introduce a few...

Industry voice: Surprises from sub-prime.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Stephen Oxley Much has happened in the financial markets over recent weeks. Some hedge funds stand accused of adding to or even causing the turmoil. However, the underlying problems appear to have originated elsewhere in the...

Mephisto: Understandable cold feet over what is a dead duck.
September 10, 2007... Is Mephisto the only person who finds the idea of liability-driven investment (LDI) a bit sterile? The concept seems straightforward enough. Take your members, count the living and work out when they'll be corpses, and then carefully...

Fund Profile: VR Pension Fund - Slow and steady keeps VR investments on track.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Reeta Cevik The investments of the 1.05bn VR Pension Fund, which covers employees of the Finnish State Railways, yielded a return of almost 10 per cent in 2006 - during what was a challenging year for investors. Hannu Hokka,...

Country Profile: Denmark.
September 10, 2007... Byline: Thomas Escritt After several years where governance capacity was consumed by interest rate derivatives, Danish pension funds are starting to look once again at more exotic alternatives. Aside from giants like ATP, Danish funds...

Features: Risk management - Ensuring adequate protection for volatile times.
September 10, 2007... When mulling over the chaos that has swept across global equity and bond markets in recent weeks, Mark Duke, principal at Towers Perrin stressed one key message for pension funds: you are kidding yourself if you think you can ever get extra...

The Specialist: DC pensions - Climbing the DC mountain to retirement.
September 10, 2007... In this series of articles about defined contribution (DC) pension provision across Europe, we have explored the growth of DC and considered the current state of the DC market at a pan-European level and in a number of specific territories. In...

Economics: Credit crunch - Keep the faith and ride over the bumps.
September 10, 2007... Recent weeks have been dominated by what the financial media have been calling the 'sub-prime mortgage crisis' and what we have been referring to as 'the credit crunch'. The impact has been global, as interconnected borrowers, lenders and...

News: Icelandic fund reveals 10% alternatives target.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Thomas Escritt The 3.6bn Iceland State Employees' Pension Fund (Lifeyrissjodur Starfsmanna Rikisins, or LSR) has set itself an ambitious 350m target for alternative asset class exposure. Birgir Stefansson, LSR's investment...

News: NPRF aims for more private equity.
September 24, 2007... Ireland Ireland's National Pensions Reserve Fund is still short of its 2009 target allocation of 8 per cent to private equity. John Corrigan, the fund's investment director, said there would be further investments in the asset class in...

News: Global growth prospect jitters begin to show.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Chris Newlands Nordic region Nordic pension and insurance funds are the most nervous they have ever been about world growth prospects, according to epn's sister publication nrpn's latest quarterly survey. The survey, which...

News: Looking for the right chemistry.
September 24, 2007... Apteekkien Elakekassa, the 400m Finnish Pharmacy Pension Fund, is to appoint a manager to run almost half of its total assets. The tender is for 40 per cent of the fund's portfolio, a mandate worth 175m that is equally divided between bonds and...

News in Brief: The City and County of Swansea pension fund.
September 24, 2007... The City and County of Swansea pension fund is to embark on a series of specialist mandates, which will see it move away from a balanced structure for the first time. The GBP900m (1.2bn) fund has put out to tender for a number of specialist...

News in Brief: PGGM, the Dutch healthcare and social.
September 24, 2007... PGGM, the Dutch healthcare and social work pension fund, has teamed up with Citi for a risk-sharing arrangement for a highly diversified portfolio of emerging market credit exposures. The transaction, called Terra I, references a portfolio of...

News in Brief: The China Securities Regulatory Committee.
September 24, 2007... The China Securities Regulatory Committee has given BNY Mellon Asset Management the go-ahead to sub-advise a Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor $8bn mandate for Chinese investors. The decision makes BNY Mellon one of the few foreign...

News: Northern Trust breakthrough on Italian transparency rules.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Thomas Escritt Italy Northern Trust believes it has identified a potential way for pooled funds to hold Italian equities in a tax-transparent fashion. The company maintains this is a significant development for pooling...

News: Europe leads the way as firms up environmental awareness.
September 24, 2007... European companies lead the world in their approach towards environmental, social and governance issues, according to Ethical Investment Research Services. The non-profit organisation's September survey found that Japanese companies...

News: NAPF calls for prudent man rule.
September 24, 2007... Iceland Iceland's National Association of Pension Funds would like to see the national regulator move to the prudent man principle for regulating pension funds' investments. Hrafn Magnusson, the Association's managing director said...

People News: Borgdorff to head new PGGM division.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Thomas Escritt The Netherlands PGGM has appointed Peter Borgdorff, formerly director of the Dutch Association of Industry-wide Pension Funds, to head its pension fund management division. His appointment follows PGGM's...

People News: Kjaer quits Norwegian fund after 10 years.
September 24, 2007... Knut Kjaer is stepping down from his position as head of the operational management of The Norwegian Government Pension Fund - Global. "Ten years is a very long time for such a senior position. I think it will be good for the organisation...

News: People on the Move - Montalvo takes sec gen post at CEIOPS.
September 24, 2007... The Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS) has appointed Carlos Montalvo as its secretary general. Mr Montalvo joins from the Spanish supervisory body Direccion General de Seguros y Fondos de Pensiones....

News: People on the Move - Pimco's Craven poached by GSAM.
September 24, 2007... Goldman Sachs Asset Management has poached Pimco's Paul Craven to become its head of UK and Irish Institutional business. Mr Craven replaces Oliver Bolitho who relocated to Hong Kong earlier this year to head up distribution for the group's...

News: People on the Move - Josefs to tackle SRI at Morley.
September 24, 2007... Morley has appointed Jason Josefs as head of research for SRI. He will manage the team of analysts responsible for the research aspect of its SRI portfolios and report to Peter Michaelis, head of SRI. Mr Josefs joins from Bernstein Value...

News: People on the Move - F&C snaps up equity expert Anand.
September 24, 2007... F&C has poached Paras Anand from Deutsche Asset Management, where he was director for European equities. Mr Anand will take on the newly created position of head of European equities and have overall responsibility for the continental and pan...

News: People on the Move - Loftus reaches new heights at Ansbacher.
September 24, 2007... Ansbacher Group has added Norval Loftus to its investment management team. Mr Loftus joins as senior portfolio manager and will report to Mike Hollings, chief investment officer. Mr Loftus joins from Exane BNP Paribas, where he was a director,...

News: People on the Move - Prooth signs up at BGI.
September 24, 2007... Barclays Global Investors has appointed Karen Prooth as managing director and European chief operating officer for iShares and GIMG. Ms Prooth will be responsible for coordinating the operations, technology and finance functions for iShares and...

Industry Voice: Avoiding indices' pitfalls.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Noel Amenc Given the changes that have taken place in recent years in asset management practices, it is important to examine the quality of market indices as a benchmark for institutional investors. For the vast majority, the...

Mephisto: The shining white mane that inspired the world.
September 24, 2007... Who will take Knut's place in our hearts? With his white mane, winning looks and kindly demeanour, his sudden appearance in the world's media spotlight took both him and us by surprise. Life in the more temperate climes where epn Towers...

Fund Profile: Ireland - Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund - Irish reserve scheme continues to keep it real.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Thomas Escritt Sovereign funds are attracting attention, with fears that the vast sums being poured into Chinese and Russian state investment funds may procure their owners undue influence. By comparison, the buffer funds of...

Country Profile: Iceland.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Thomas Escritt Perched at the top of the Atlantic, Iceland has long been accustomed to a global visibility that belies its tiny population. With just 300,000 people, Europe's most remote country is enjoying unprecedented prominence...

Features: Switzerland - Consultants - Consultants look to stand out in the crowd.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Michael Lennert The agendas of Swiss consultants are becoming increasingly complicated. Asset liability management, investment controlling, consulting on strategic and tactical asset allocation, manager searches, but also training...

Features: Switzerland - Consultants - In Brief.
September 24, 2007... - In an ever-more complicated investment environment, the scope for consultants is getting broader, encompassing tasks such as asset liability management, investment controlling, tactical asset allocation and manager searches. - Most...

Switzerland: Swiss buffer fund - AHV sees a light at the end of the tunnel.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Thomas Escritt The Swiss Social Security Office has released new figures that are slightly more optimistic about the long-term financing of the country's Federal Social Security fund (AHV). The buffer fund, which was set up in...

The Specialist: European smaller companies - Small firms offer light in the storm.
September 24, 2007... Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. European equity markets might have been roiled by the developments in US credit markets, and slower growth in the US might even have an impact on the level of economic activity taking place in Europe....

The Interview: Knut Kjaer and Martin Skancke - Norwegian Government Pension Fund - Global.
September 24, 2007... Byline: Caroline Liinanki The Norwegian Government Pension Fund is planning its first move into property. How will that happen? - Kjaer: Taking on property as well as other alternatives is about getting better diversification and...