Pensions Week articles from November 2006

Pensions Week archives from November 2006

News: Labour gets fingers burnt over pensions.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister Ministers were sizzling under the microscope last week as industry and political parties lambasted Labour for a catalogue of pension blunders culminating in its official dismissal of the parliamentary ombudsman...

News: Funds may flock to foreign shores to avoid regulations.
November 6, 2006... There is a strong possibility that UK pension schemes will move abroad in future to escape onerous UK regulations, according to a pensions law expert. Pinsent Masons pensions partner, Robin Ellison, who is also chairman of the National...

News: Remploy: a correction.
November 6, 2006... Our front page article last week headed 'Remploy pensions hanging by a thread' stated that thousands of Remploy employees faced the prospect of losing their pension. We now accept that this is not true and that the Remploy scheme is a funded...

News: Siemens runs out of choices for clawing back scheme deficits.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams A third of employees at Siemens UK could see their pension benefits cut in a bid to plug deficits. The technology solution provider has asked trustees to consult with advisers in a review of its defined benefit...

News: More haste, less speed in the rush to stop contracting out for DC, says administrator.
November 6, 2006... Proposed changes to the contracting out system for defined contribution (DC) pension schemes must be made workable in the short term before the system is abolished, administrators warned. Paymaster, provider of outsourced administration,...

News: BIAM fails to improve figures.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison The embattled fund manager Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) has suffered another punishing set of pooled balanced funds, global equities and overseas equities performance figures, despite a management overhaul...

News: Strathclyde goes specialist in search of legal advice.
November 6, 2006... The A A8.8bn Strathclyde pension fund is looking to appoint a legal adviser specialising in private equity as it plans to increase its commitment to the asset class from 2% to 5%. David Crum, chief pensions officer at the Scottish pension...

News: North Yorkshire finishes A A680m fund reallocation.
November 6, 2006... North Yorkshire County Council Pension Fund has completed an investment reshuffle, transferring A A680m of assets from the scheme's legacy portfolio to its target fund. The transition management mandate of a global equity portfolio was...

News: Compensation solution finds no fans.
November 6, 2006... Government plans to accelerate compensation to thousands of victims of scheme collapse have been branded as ineffectual. Pensions reform minister James Purnell, said people who lost their pension when their sponsoring employers went bust,...

News: ETFs used to access alternative markets.
November 6, 2006... UK pension funds are increasingly exploiting exchangetraded funds (ETFs) as a way of accessing difficult markets, said fund managers. According to Barclays Global Investors (BGI), who took over A A2bn of investment in ETFs in the first half...

News: Gloomy response to private pensions rejig...
November 6, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams The government's planned reform of the state and private pension system has been accused of missing its target audience. Mercer Human Resource Consulting warned that while moves towards simplified state benefits...

...while state reforms send "pulses racing".
November 6, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister Government plans to "tinker" with the state pension system has come under criticism from former Pensions Commission authors and political parties alike. Ministers are "giving serious consideration" to...

News: Schemes set to increase funding targets by 10%.
November 6, 2006... Trustees have begun to ratchet up scheme funding targets after heavy pressure from the Pensions Regulator, a consultant said. In a study of 160 pension schemes, Mercer Human Resource Consulting found trustees completing actuarial valuations...

News: KPMG Investment takes over from Hewitt Associates in O2 Pension Plan advisory role.
November 6, 2006... KPMG Investment Consulting has replaced Hewitt Associates as ongoing advisor to trustees of the O2 Pension Plan. With both defined benefit and defined contribution pension arrangements, the fund has 5,500 scheme members. James...

News: USS backs away from Viacom compensation law suit.
November 6, 2006... The A A28bn Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has pulled out of the class action law suit against US media firm Viacom just weeks after being given the goahead to proceed. USS was set to take on Viacom's board of directors over...

News: ASP restrictions 'against progress' and will limit opportunity for savers.
November 6, 2006... The government is missing an opportunity to restore interest in pensions if it restricts the use of alternatively secured pensions (ASP). According to research by Skandia Life, financial advisers have universally slammed the government...

News: Third round of union talks does nothing to secure NAPS looming deficit problem.
November 6, 2006... The troubled BA New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS) was no closer to being rescued despite a third bout of talks between unions and the company. BA has admitted the NAPS deficit had reached A A2.1bn, more than double its level three years...

News: Trustees warned over banks' prehedging deals.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Trustees should be on their guard against investment banks adversely affecting the price of swaps deals and using prior knowledge for their own gains, consultants warned. The practice known by various names in...

News: Sting in the Tale Nothing is for free.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Steve Bee I have just been reading through the Department for Work and Pensions' latest 99 page document on pension reform, entitled 'Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system'. I'm not going to write too much about it,...

News: Tax benefits can sweeten DC for staff.
November 6, 2006... Companies with defined contribution (DC) schemes can cut staff turnover in half and save tens of thousands of pounds by offering members tax efficient benefits, a consultant said. Steve Osbiston, London regional director for Baker Tilly...

News: Schemes urged to unite against climate threat.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams The pensions industry must pull together to limit the effects of climate change or risk jeopardising future returns, advisers warned. Following the publication of the Stern Review on the economics of climate...

News: Research required on climate risk say fund managers.
November 6, 2006... Investors assessing the risks and opportunities related to climate change, will need more information before they can gauge the financial implications, fund managers warned. ABN Amro Asset Management said investors needed more data on...

News: Switch bonds for property say consultants.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Pensions schemes can use global property as a substitute to bonds to boost returns, consultants have said. Greg Wright, head of UK property at Mercer Investment Consulting, said: "For some schemes it would be a...

News: Equity/bond seesaw keeps pension deficits stable.
November 6, 2006... Deficits for UK pension schemes remain stagnant at around A A50bn for the third consecutive month, research showed. A study, carried out by Aon Consulting, found the total estimated deficit for the 200 schemes surveyed was A A52bn at the...

Governance Watch: Helphire under the spotlight over NED independence.
November 6, 2006... Helphire will hold its annual general meeting (AGM) on November 16, 2006. The board and committees all meet the recommendations of the combined code. The board comprises the chairman, four executive directors and four independent nonexecutive...

News: NAPF Notice Board.
November 6, 2006... Making change make sense NAPF Investment Conference 2007 March 1416, EICC Edinburgh Lord Turner has described the UK pensions system as the most complex in the world and the government is committed to simplification....

News: Ombudsman Watch.
November 6, 2006... Attention As we get closer to pensions age discrimination day, at the time of writing (last Wednesday evening on GNER heading south) there was still no puff of smoke from the Department for Work & Pensions announcing the outcome of its...

Spotlight: Follow the leader.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Ken Willis and Marc Bautista The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has recently published its 2006 statement of investment principles (SIP). This document sets out the principles that the PPF is following for the investment of the...

Opinion: Leader Speeding towards a greener future?
November 6, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Given all the fuss about climate change I have started to question my own contribution to the decline in the state of the planet. I am not about to start living in a tree and stop washing my hair, but I have decided...

Opinion: Personal View Explaining employer covenants and the review process.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Barry Ross The term 'employer covenant' is widely used, but what does it mean and when is an employer covenant review required? The employer's covenant is the employer's willingness and ability to support a pension scheme....

Opinion: Inside View Government still rewriting the age laws rule book.
November 6, 2006... Byline: David Everett The proposed amendments to the complex exemptions from the age discrimination rules that will apply to pension schemes from this December are welcome, at least in the sense that the government has acted on an issue...

Campaign for Pensions Justice: Reporting the reality behind the headlines.
November 6, 2006... Christiani & Nielsen pension scheme member " I will be 63 years of age in August 2006. I have been ill, physically, from October 2002 through to the present day (three and half of those years include hospitalisation: wheelchair and...

Advertorial: Sweetspotting.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Colin Mouque Pension fund deficits are putting the brakes on many UK companies' development; curtailing investment in future growth, threatening increased employment and blocking merger and acquisition activity. Increased...

Special Focus: The full fixed income toolkit.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Traditionally fixed income was the sleepy, comfortable part of pension fund portfolios. It provided a vague hedge against equities, but offered none of the glamour nor the exciting returns. However, new...

Special Focus: Into the unknown.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Ceri Jones While the government doesn't say how much a scheme should invest in bonds, it doesn't say you should drive a car with a right hand steering wheel either," says Paul Clark, regional managing director at Jardine Lloyd...

Special Focus: Fixed income as an alpha source.
November 6, 2006... Fixed income has undergone a dramatic transformation in the past decade. Gone are the days when topdown bets alone could generate sufficient returns to meet funding needs. Fortunately, the emergence of new tools allows managers to take...

Special Focus: Generating outperformance: more tools results in more alpha.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Elizabeth Para Historically, most institutional investors selected a benchmark based on their future liabilities. This often logically resulted in a bias toward domestic currency bond benchmarks aimed at ensuring that the...

Company Profile: Putnam Investments.(Company overview)
November 6, 2006... Background Putnam Investments is a global asset manager with nearly 70 years' experience in managing money through every market environment and across all major asset classes. With 200 investment professionals overseeing more than $180bn...

Company Profile: State Street Global Advisors.(Company overview)
November 6, 2006... Background State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is a division of State Street Corporation, an AArated company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and focused on the investment industry. Dedicated exclusively to institutional investors,...

People on the Move: Resolution strengthens its board with senior appointment.
November 6, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister Resolution Asset Management has boosted its board with the appointment of Ian Paterson Brown as chief operating officer. The company said the role and position had been created to add strength and experience...

People on the Move: Chambers takes major position at Mercer Retirement.
November 6, 2006... Mercer Human Resource Consulting has strengthened its packaged pensions service with the appointment of Caren Chambers as senior product development manager for Mercer Retirement Solutions. Focusing on the development of both defined...

People on the Move: Gartmore adds two to its markets team.
November 6, 2006... Gartmore Investment Management has strengthened its global emerging markets team with two hires. Sebastian BarryTaylor and Richard Clode both join the group as global emerging markets analysts, with BarryTaylor covering the global...

People on the Move: FindlayShirras joins FPP roster.
November 6, 2006... Fabien Pictet and Partners (FPP) has appointed Douglas FindlayShirras as marketing director. Joining the team from Dawnay Day International, FindlayShirras previously spent 15 years as director of marketing at State Street Global Advisors,...

People on the Move: Morrison steps into client relations role for Investec.
November 6, 2006... Investec Asset Management has appointed Natalie Morrison in the newly created role of head of client relationships for its institutional business. Formerly a business and client services director at Citigroup Asset Management, Morrison...

News: Regulator prompts pillage of credit skills.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Pension consultancies are raiding investment banks and accountancies for professionals with credit analysis experience after the industry watchdog accused actuaries of lacking the skills to evaluate sponsor...

News: Deferred members could miss out on tax-free cash post A-day.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Thousands of deferred members of company pension funds will lose out on a bulk of tax-free cash (TFC) if they left their scheme before April 6 this year (A-day). Whereas members with major cash lump sums prior to...

News: Education required for UK workforce as majority unaware of retirement plan reality.
November 13, 2006... People in the UK are facing 'bleak' pension prospects with workers holding unrealistic expectations of their retirement income, according to research. The review carried out by JPMorgan Invest, found 64% of UK employees were facing...

News: BIAM's Beds contract under review.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Bank of Ireland Asset Management's (BIAM) GBP140m overseas equities mandate is up for review at the GBP1bn Bedfordshire County Council pension scheme as part of a rethink of the fund. The fund manager suffered...

News: Clwyd fund tenders for GBP15m mandate.
November 13, 2006... A major pension fund in Wales is looking to appoint fund managers for a commodities mandate and a portable alpha brief as part of its equity portfolio. The Clwyd pension fund, administered by Flintshire County Council, has put out to...

News: TVEs may be a 'good deal' says industry specialist.
November 13, 2006... Transfer value enhancements (TVEs) to encourage individuals to leave defined benefit (DB) schemes have been unfairly portrayed as a 'con', according to a pensions specialist. Pension Capital Strategies' managing director, Peter Redhead,...

News: Insurers warn personal accounts could deepen crisis.
November 13, 2006... The introduction of personal accounts could exacerbate the pensions crisis if steps are not taken to protect benefits, insurers warned. A study published by Scottish Widows found a third of adults said they could not afford to save anything...

News: Sea Containers under regulator's spotlight.
November 13, 2006... The Pensions Regulator has taken the parent company of Great North Eastern Railways to task over pension deficits, threatening the use of its first financial support directive (FSD). The Bermuda-based transport group, Sea Containers, was...

News: PPI pans means-testing claims.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister The government said its pension reforms will reduce means-testing to 10% of couples by 2050, despite Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) calculations that over 50% of the population will claim the benefit. The...

News: Regulator could lower code scheme costs.
November 13, 2006... Guidance on legislation to make scheme rules more flexible has been laid before parliament by the Pensions Regulator. The code of practice for the amendment of subsisting rights establishes that, under the Pensions Act 2004, changes cannot...

News: Just Retirement to raise capital through AIM.
November 13, 2006... Enhanced annuities and equity release provider, Just Retirement, is to raise GBP50m in capital with an AIM market listing to fund organic growth. The listing, of up to 30% of Just Retirement's share capital, could value the company at...

News: Fear of DB swan song at opera house.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison The Royal Opera House (ROH) pension scheme has been pushed by unions to explain its deficit, which has spiralled to over a third of the fund's size, amid fears of scheme closure. The GBP24m scheme informed its...

News: Pimco acquires Kingfisher mandate.
November 13, 2006... Specialist fixed income manager Pimco has won a GBP96m segregated bond mandate from the Kingfisher Pension Scheme. The mandate is to be managed against a customised gilt and corporate bond benchmark, with Pimco using a range of investment...

News: Vote disclosure could prove to be costly.
November 13, 2006... Government powers forcing institutional investors to disclose voting decisions could create an unnecessary and costly burden on UK pension funds, consultants warned. The Companies Act, which received royal assent last week, requires...

News: Schemes may be in breach of one-third rule warns OPA.
November 13, 2006... The Occupational Pensioners' Alliance (OPA) has warned of turmoil over the position of member-nominated trustees (MNTs) in UK pension schemes. The OPA said that due to differences in appointing MNTs between the 1995 Pensions Act and the...

News: Trustee - Swapping viewpoints.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Clive Gilchrist Many pension schemes, particularly large ones and mature schemes trying to match cash flows against liability profiles, now use interest rate or inflation swaps as part of their investment process, and many more are...

News: Russia leads emerging markets.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Investment managers have hailed specialist funds as the key to opening up emerging markets to UK pension schemes. Managers can treat countries like Russia as separate economies in their own right, adopting a...

News: Savings message getting through to investors.
November 13, 2006... Broad-based saving portfolios are becoming the norm for UK investors looking to fund themselves in retirement, research showed. A Towers Perrin sponsored YouGov survey, looking at employee pension perceptions, found 90% of those interviewed...

News: Workers get more pensions choice.
November 13, 2006... Over half of employers are beginning to offer more pro-active pensions products to their workers, a consultant said. An option for defined contribution (DC) schemes, known as auto strategies, which can be applied to both investment...

News: PPF levies could double in size.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister The chief executive of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) defended claims that levies could double in the next year as the lifeboat only raised half the projected target for its first year of business. ...

Governance Watch: Roles come under question at Town Centre Securities.
November 13, 2006... RREV is disappointed to note that Town Centre Securities does not comply with many of the best practice recommendations of the combined code. RREV raised similar concerns with the company last year. Board of directors Edward Ziff, who...

NAPF Notice Board.
November 13, 2006... NAPF introduces its new Trustee Zone Being a pension scheme trustee has never been more important or indeed demanding. The security of 17 million people's retirements depends upon the good governance of thousands of schemes. These are...

News: Ombudsman Watch.
November 13, 2006... Fireworks Last week I wrote about received wisdom and consensus expectations. Then, on the afternoon of November 5, I went to White Hart Lane expecting Spurs to succumb tamely to Chelsea. On November 7, I went to a meeting of the British...

Campaign for Pensions Justice: Reporting the reality behind the headlines.
November 13, 2006... Wife of Triplex Lloyd Group Components Pension Scheme member " On a weekly basis I follow the progress on the web of the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) and it would appear from the information given that my husband's scheme has...

Spotlight: The best recipe.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Jonathan Gainsford Nearly all UK final salary pension plans have a funding deficit. Under the new scheme-specific funding regime, trustees are expected to value the liabilities, and hence the deficit, using prudent assumptions....

Opinion: Leader - Government shows fair play to Farepak.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth It was with a distinct sinking feeling that I read about the collapse of the Farepak Christmas savings scheme. Thousands of people, saving into a fund they thought would cover obligations in the future, are left with...

Opinion: Personal View - The hedge fund solution: more investment gain for less pain.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Graham Martin Hedge funds offer mainstream investment solutions and there are now sufficient data points to draw statistically significant conclusions on them. When you look at the risk and return characteristics, it is possible to...

Opinion: Inside View - Hedging your bets in bull and bear markets.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Jamie Murray One of the core messages delivered about funds-of-hedge funds is that their relatively low correlations to traditional investments provide a degree of downside control in difficult markets. They are increasingly held...

Special Focus: A world view.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Much is made of the need for a diversified pension fund portfolio and rightly so. Dependency on one asset class, region or manager is at best foolhardy and at worst, negligent. Consequently, UK pension funds are...

Special Focus: Hot property.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Alternatives is the buzzword at present for pension funds looking to add extra sparkle to their portfolios. There's been big talk about the potential gains for investing in assets like global property, but only...

Special Focus: Real estate: the globalisation of the last major asset class.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Peter Hobbs and Bill Hughes The UK stands out as one of the most liquid, mature and strongly performing real estate markets in the world. An average total return at 14% a year over the past decade exceeds that of all other markets...

Special Focus: Earning an international reputation.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Michael Clarke For the last 10 years there has been a gradual increase in UK pension funds' allocations to the property sector. However, in almost all cases this has been limited to domestic property which, while one of the larger...

Company Profile: RREEF.(Company overview)
November 13, 2006... Background RREEF is a global real estate and infrastructure investment manager built around the philosophy that world investment success in real estate is, and always will be, driven by local market knowledge. With E53.7bn in assets under...

Company Profile: Schroders.(Company overview)
November 13, 2006... Background Schroders is a global asset management company with GBP122.3/$226.1 billion under management*. Clients are major financial institutions including banks and insurance companies, local and public authorities, charities, pension...

People on the Move: Klinck to head up global product services for State Street Corp.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison State Street Corporation has shored up its global investment product offering with the appointment of John Klinck. He joins as executive vice president and head of global investment product services. Klinck,...

People on the Move: ABN appoints Kiddie as CIO for equities.
November 13, 2006... ABN Amro Asset Management has appointed David Kiddie as chief investment officer (CIO) for equities. He joins from Baring Asset Management where he worked since 2003, most recently as head of equities, responsible for investment...

People on the Move: Vallee joins JPMorgan as senior portfolio manager.
November 13, 2006... JPMorgan Asset Management has enhanced its global multi-asset group with the appointment of Antony Vallee. Vallee becomes a senior portfolio manager, where he will have primary responsibility for the convertible bond book of business. ...

People on the Move: Alsey becomes risk director at Henderson Global.
November 13, 2006... Piers Alsey has been appointed as director of performance and risk measurement at Henderson Global Investors. Alsey, who has over 14 years' experience in the finance industry, will report to Arno Kitts, director of institutional business....

People on the Move: Carpenter carves a role at Mercer.
November 13, 2006... Mercer Human Resource Consulting has boosted its retirement business with the appointment of Will Carpenter as a senior associate. Based in Brentwood, he will act as consultant and scheme actuary to a portfolio of defined benefit and...

Special Supplement: Structuring solutions.
November 13, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth If you looked at the start of this century in isolation, UK pension fund trustees' dogged loyalty to equities would seem nonsensical. However, over the long term, the asset class has consistently outperformed every...