Pensions Week articles from May 2002

Pensions Week archives from May 2002

News: Gravesham pensions shame.(Gravesham Borough Council)
May 6, 2002... Gravesham Borough Council has become the latest target by war veterans after it cut benefits for ex-servicemen and their widows by the amount of their government war pension. The council has come under fire for reducing housing benefits and...

News: Jagger not satisfied with CAPS figures.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... Apparent improvement in active manager returns in last two years may be largely illusory, claims an investment consultant. Instead, performance figures are being skewed by new so-called high performance funds. Consultant Jagger &...

News: Ombudsman Watch.
May 6, 2002... Right result? The question that was exercising my mind at about 5 o'clock the Saturday before last was this. When is the right result the wrong result? Regular readers will have twigged that I have not submitted my article for Philosophy...

News: 20,000 IFAs could lose status under new FSA measures.
May 6, 2002... Commissions are not the most important test of an independent financial adviser's (IFA's) independent status, life insurers have told the financial regulator. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) wants the fee-based remuneration that...

News: Insurers gearing up for Martini pensions as stakeholder makes its mark.
May 6, 2002... Stakeholder pensions have had a dramatic effect on how the financial services industry operates, despite 50% of providers expecting the controversial product to fail. According to a survey of 100 general insurers and life and pension...

News: Property - Threadneedle relocates property fund to Jersey.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... Threadneedle Investments recently launched a Jersey-based property fund, available to a broad range of institutional investors. The fund was formed by relocating the former Sackville Property Unit Trust from the UK to Jersey. As an...

News: Property - Close Brothers backs rule change.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... Close Brothers Investment has backed a major lobby by the British Property Foundations of the government to change the investment rules governing residential property. Currently self-invested personal pensions and small self-administered...

Investment Panel: The defined contribution debate - Pensions Week Investment Panel - Intro.(Brief Article)(Panel Discussion)
May 6, 2002... Pensions Week's second quarterly Investment Panel of 2002 takes a look at the acceleration in the trend to shut defined benefit schemes and open defined contribution (DC) schemes. There is little doubt that this has been a topic of fierce...

Investment Panel: The defined contribution debate - The Investment Panel wise men.
May 6, 2002... - Alastair Ross Goobey is one of the best known people in pensions, he is chairman of Hermes Focus Funds and senior advisor to and member of the European Advisory Board of Morgan Stanley. Between January 1993 and December 2001 he was chief...

Investment Panel: The defined contribution debate - The defined contribution debate.(Panel Discussion)
May 6, 2002... Why is it that quite so many schemes are changing to defined contribution? Alastair Ross Goobey: The reasons schemes are moving to DC are many and varied. I think the biggest driver is the increasing longevity of our members. This is not...

Opinion: Leader - NAPF - Hoping pensions will B right on.(National Association of Pension Funds)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... As pension scheme trustees from around the country prepare to enjoy the delights of Brighton at the National Association of Pension Funds' (NAPF) annual conference this week, they can rest easy that the profile of pensions among the public has...

Opinion: Legal View - To opt out or not to opt out again that is the question.
May 6, 2002... The Pensions Act 1995 introduced a requirement that there should be at least one third member nominated trustee/director (MNT) unless the employer proposed alternative arrangements for the appointment of trustees (an opt- out) that were...

Opinion: Letter from Europe - On the road to recovery.
May 6, 2002... As signs of global economic recovery grew during the first quarter of the year, fixed income markets endured a difficult three months. The markets' attention has focused primarily on the prospects for the US economy, in particular as a stimulus...

Opinion: Letters - Altmann sparks tax debate.(Letter to the Editor)
May 6, 2002... I am an IFA and have read various comments attributable to Ros Altmann in the Independent, Financial Times and Pensions Week (29.4.02). Comments have been made about the amount of commission on annuities at 1% to1.5%, which is the basis of...

Route to the top: Rebel with a cause.(Punter Southall & Co)
May 6, 2002... Like many actuaries, Jonathan Punter began his career by climbing the actuarial ladder, but it wasn't long before he had enough of convention and branched out on his own. The co-founder of Punter Southall & Co began life in rather exotic...

People on the move: Punter Southall nabs Graham.(appointment, UK)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... Consulting actuarial firm Punter Southall has appointed Graham Forest-Jones as marketing director. He joins from Aon and was responsible for launching the Aon Consulting brand in the UK in 1997. His appointment follows that of Graeme...

People on the move: IPA picks Vick as new chief.(Insurance and Pensions Authority; David Vick)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... David Vick has become chief executive of the Isle of Man's Insurance and Pensions Authority (IPA). He was previously deputy chief executive and takes over from Bill Hastings who retired at the end of March 2002. Vick is an associate of the...

People on the move: Four join FTSE Group.(Grace Churchill)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... Global index provider FTSE Group has strengthened its European team with one internal and three external appointments. Grace Churchill has been appointed to work with institutional clients, asset managers, investment houses and brokers across...

People on the move: LPFA makes a Rough choice.(David Rough, new investment adviser)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... David Rough, the former group director (investments) of the Legal & General Group, has joined the London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) as an investment adviser to the fund. LPFA reviewed the role of independent adviser following...

People on the move: Lim takes high Societe step.( Tai-Mey Lim, new head of relative value research )(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... SG has appointed Tai-Mey Lim as head of relative value research within the hedge fund group. She joins from Lehman Brothers, where she was a director, working as a value analyst. Her appointment is a significant step in SG's initiative...

People on the move: Moreau role at AXA IM.(Nicolas Moreau as chief executive)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) has appointed Nicolas Moreau as chief executive. He is currently CEO in addition to being chairman of AXA IM private equity and vice chairman of AXA Rosenberg Investment Management.

People on the move: Mearns grabs Mellons offer.(Alan Mearns, new head of global marketing)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... Mellon Global Investments has appointed Alan Mearns as head of global marketing. He joins from Threadneedle Investments, where he was marketing director responsible for the marketing strategy and distribution in the UK and Europe of the OEIC...

People on the move: My first job - Bill Rayner, worldwide partner, Mercer Human Resource Consulting.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... What was your first job? A vacation job before university, putting the jam on Jaffa cakes. What made you stand out over other applicants? I said I'd do it, the others were more discerning. Did it offer a pension? Yes, I...

Supplement: Update - Employee benefits - Employers urged to warn staff to mind the savings gap.
May 6, 2002... Pensions industry experts have warned that the surge in the number of new defined contribution (DC) pension schemes opened this year puts a premium on schemes' communications with members. Amazingly, the most important message schemes need to...

Supplement: Update - Employee benefits - Scottish Widows battles to keep pensions outsourcing top spot.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... The battle for outsourced pensions administration business has been fierce this year. Despite the hotting up of the market, PIFC remains in top spot in the PW third-party admin wins table with net wins of 44. Third-party administrator...

Supplement: Update - Employee benefits - Personal planning - a need for commitment.
May 6, 2002... Pensions have had a particularly high profile in the press recently, as a result of a number of significant changes. These include the changes to state benefits, the rise and fall of personal pensions, the introduction of stakeholder pensions...

Supplement: Investment strategies - Intro.
May 6, 2002... As equity markets struggle to recapture their shine after two years of negative returns and pension funds take a fresh interest in fixed income, investment strategy has never been more vital. The special supplement provides trustees with a...

Supplement: Investment strategies - Looking at alternatives.
May 6, 2002... Formal monitoring of compliance with the investment principles listed in the Myners report is due in March 2003. Specifically included is the requirement that pension funds consider all asset classes, including alternative ones like private...

Supplement: Investment strategies - Let the good times roll.
May 6, 2002... Over the past two years, pension funds have been looking for the right formula to maintain growth as the equity market became increasingly volatile and returns fell. In addition, news of more company closures of defined benefit (DB)...

Supplement: Investment strategies - Leaving nothing to chance.
May 6, 2002... In the UK, traditional final salary or defined benefit (DB) pensions are on the wane. In a manner reminiscent of the US experience, companies have begun to close down DB pensions to new members in order to reduce the effect that pensions have...

Supplement: Investment strategies - No junk in high yield bonds.
May 6, 2002... The high yield fixed income asset class is one which pension funds can no longer choose to ignore. Changes in both the environment for pension funds and in the make-up of the UK fixed income market, mean that all pension fund trustees now have...

Supplement: Investment strategies - Balancing performance and risk.
May 6, 2002... Despite the fact that performance measure-ment would seem one of the necessary foundations of institutional investment, its importance is frequently overlooked by those engaged in the industry. One obvious problem is that with every pension...

Supplement: Investment strategies - Manager directory - AXA Investment Managers.
May 6, 2002... History AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the global AXA Group, a world leader in financial protection and wealth management. Established as a standalone investment management company in 1997 through the...

Supplement: Investment strategies - Manager directory - ROYAL&SUNALLIANCE Investments.
May 6, 2002... Background R&SA Investments manages GBP35.8 billion (as at 31st March 2002) on behalf of institutional, pension fund and retail clients and is part of a group managing global assets of GBP59 billion. With over 100 years of investment...

Supplement: Investment strategies - Manager directory - Threadneedle Investments.
May 6, 2002... History Threadneedle was formed in 1994 from the investment management businesses of Eagle Star and Allied Dunbar, both then part of BAT Industries plc. In 1997, the Zurich Financial Services Group ("Zurich") acquired the financial...

Information Platform: Credit market - Intro.(pension fund market )(Brief Article)
May 6, 2002... UK pension funds are in the process of a significant change to the composition of their investment portfolios, as fixed income exposures are raised. Many consultants expect that a typical UK fund could have a 50/50 equity/bond split in a few...

Information Platform: Credit market - The evolving fixed income market.
May 6, 2002... The last few years have witnessed a significant switch from equities to bonds by UK pension schemes as they run for cover in a falling equity market. The shift to bonds is here to stay for the long term. However, it is vital for trustees to...

Information Platform: Credit market - The benefits of transparency.(corporate bond market analysis )
May 6, 2002... There would appear to be common consent among institutional investors in the UK that the corporate bond market is increasing in both size and importance. It is therefore poignant to question whether this is in fact so, whether this phenomenon...