Pensions Week articles from October 2006

Pensions Week archives from October 2006

News: Demo rallies MPs against Labour folly.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister The government faced a surge of pressure from MPs and campaigners to fork out compensation for the loss of thousands of people's pensions at a Labour party conference devoid of pension policy, last week. The...

News: LDI still a victim of misunderstanding say fund managers.
October 2, 2006... Fund managers and investment consultants are failing to convince pension schemes of the merits of liability-driven investment (LDI), as trustees continue to exhibit deep cynicism about the strategy, Pensions Week research revealed. In a...

News: Targeting liabilities with partial buyouts may cut scheme risks.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Trustees who buy out obese members or heavy smokers could cut their scheme's risk exposure, consultants said. Pension schemes unable to fully buy out their liabilities have previously been offered partial buyouts,...

News: Regulator appoints HR Trustees to manage Hoverspeed fund during PPF assessment.
October 2, 2006... The Pensions Regulator has drafted in HR Trustees as the independent trustee to the Hoverspeed pension plan. Following the firm's insolvency, HR Trustees has taken up guardianship of its pension plan during its assessment period by the...

News: Local authorities dip toes into alternatives.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams Local authority pension funds are following the lead of their corporate counterparts and moving towards alternative investments. But while schemes such as the BT pension fund and the Railways Pension Scheme have...

News: Unions criticise BA pension cuts as being unfair.
October 2, 2006... British Airways (BA) announced its New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS) deficit is set to top GBP2bn despite a doubling of contributions and a recovery of the stock market. Trade union negotiations are now underway to agree a funding plan...

News: ITV outsourcing may gamble pensions.
October 2, 2006... Union officials accused ITV of endangering future pensions provision in a proposed outsourcing of operations. Plans were announced to transfer the company's transmission operation to French owned company the Thomson Group. However,...

News: Watson Wyatt to consult for Whitbread.
October 2, 2006... The Whitbread Group Pension Fund has appointed Watson Wyatt as its independent investment consultant. Following a review of advisers, the firm has assumed several of the advisory responsibilities formerly held by Russell Investment group,...

News: Letters.
October 2, 2006... GETTING THE FACTS STRAIGHT I was astounded to read Roger May's letter and, given Pensions Week's excellent Campaign for Pensions Justice, it was all the more disappointing that you published a piece so full of errors. Surely PW readers...

News: ASP about-face could result in huge costs.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison A government U-turn on alternatively secured pensions (ASPs) could see schemes lumbered with wasted legal fees and forced to abandon long-term investments, consultants said. The government's pensions...

News: Warning signs appear over pending age regulations.
October 2, 2006... Human Resource (HR) departments remain ill-prepared for the age discrimination legislation despite the looming deadline, fund managers warned. According to a survey carried out by Truestone Asset Management, 70% of HR professionals did not...

News: Value-add of auditors queried.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Administrators and trustees have hit out at pension scheme auditors for failing to add value and for interfering in the running of occupational plans. Speaking at the Pensions Week administration roundtable,...

News: North Yorkshire diversifies GBP1bn pension fund.
October 2, 2006... North Yorkshire pension fund has allocated 9% of its total assets to an unconstrained mandate, as part of a strategy to increase diversification. Following a review of asset allocation, the local authority scheme moved to a more...

News: FTSE 350 pension deficit drops by GBP18bn.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Daniel McAllister The total deficit of FTSE 350 pension funds has plummeted by GBP18bn since the scheme funding regime was announced last year, according to advisers. A report by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PwC) calculated UK...

News: Investors in need of education.
October 2, 2006... Investors pay little heed to the state of their savings and fail to make regular checks on the progress of investments, research showed. A study from Fidelity International found almost a fifth of people never reviewed the asset allocation...

News: Star Energy provides staff with GPP.
October 2, 2006... Oil and gas producer Star Energy has offered its employees a group personal pension (GPP) plan following a major takeover. In a move to encourage employees to take greater responsibility for their retirement planning, Star Energy chose a...

News: UK missing emerging benefits.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams UK pension funds are failing to cash in on emerging market debt despite increasing allocation from their US counterparts. Figures from Mellon Analytical Solutions showed less than 1% of UK pension funds'...

News: Alliance Trust moves into asset management.
October 2, 2006... Alliance Trust is to expand its investment offering with the launch of an asset management business. The boutique company aims to manage a diverse range of products and services to meet the needs of both retail and institutional investors....

Governance Watch: Anite incentive too strong - more dilution is required.
October 2, 2006... Anite will hold its annual general meeting (AGM) on October 3, 2006. RREV commends the company on the level of disclosure provided to shareholders in the annual report. Overall, the company's corporate governance has improved during the past...

News: NAPF Notice Board.
October 2, 2006... New demands for trustees: rising to the challenge NAPF Trustee Conference Autumn 2006 Tuesday October 31, Royal College of Surgeons, London Trustees face pressures to ensure their scheme is funded properly and to negotiate with...

News: Ombudsman Watch.
October 2, 2006... POWERFULLY EQUIPPED In the article I recently wrote for my corporate colleagues headed "The Pensions Regulator - Myth and Reality" I said none of the following statements about the Pensions Regulator (TPR), defined benefit (DB) schemes and...

Spotlight: Choose your style.
October 2, 2006... Recent statistics state that 70% of defined benefit (DB) schemes have closed to new members and 10% have closed to future accrual. Defined contribution (DC) schemes have finally come of age with virtually all new schemes being established on...

Opinion: Leader - Beg, borrow and steal - the British way.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Britain accounts for a third of all unsecured debt in Western Europe - this was the rather alarming statistic I heard last week while attempting to digest my hugely unpalatable credit card statement. We owe, on...

Opinion: Personal View - Cash flow opportunities abound by investing in our own infrastructure.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Phil Page Recent high-profile bids for BAA, Associated British Ports and Thames Water have highlighted the growing interest in investing in companies responsible for our infrastructure. In fact, for most pension funds these are...

Opinion: Inside View - Collateralised debt offers a durable, high income asset.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Jonathan Laredo Collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) are still classified in many European jurisdictions as alternative assets and are probably the least understood by the investors for whom they should have most resonance: the...

Roundtable: Pension fund administration: Making the back office a front office issue.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Intro The UK's pensions administrators have come in for some heavy criticism in recent weeks, notably from the pensions ombudsman, who has drawn attention to a barrage of complaints about our back offices. ...

Roundtable: Administration - Administration: innovation, legislation and outsourcing.
October 2, 2006... Gill Wadsworth, editor, Pensions Week: Tell us about the initiative 'Raising Standards in Pension Administration' (RSPA). Jonathan Bull, director, OPDU (Occupational Pensions Defence Union): About five years ago, we decided that -...

People on the Move: Mercers adds experience to its retirement roster.
October 2, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Mercer Human Resource Consulting has boosted its Leeds retirement team with the appointment of Andrew Birkett, Chris Ellis and Michael Shimwell. Birkett, who is a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, joins as a...

People on the Move: Pitchers joins Merrill in EMEA role.
October 2, 2006... Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) has appointed Hazel Pitchers as head of institutional marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Heading up a five-strong team, Pitchers will be responsible for marketing activities and...

People on the Move: ABN Amro hires Gray to bolster currency team.
October 2, 2006... ABN Amro has strengthened its currency management team with the appointment of Paul Gray. He joins as a senior portfolio manager as part of the global markets group. Based in London, Gray will be responsible for construction and...

People on the Move: Baring creates new role for Scholefield.
October 2, 2006... Tim Scholefield has been appointed head of global equities at Baring Asset Management. Based in London, in his newly created position, Scholefield will report to David Kiddie, head of equities at Barings. Scholefield joins from...

People on the Move: Towers Perrin reorganises team.
October 2, 2006... Steve Taylor-Gooby has been appointed managing director of the Towers Perrin's Tillinghast business, as Richard Batty assumes responsibility for managing the Asia-Pacific region, in a company reshuffle. Previously the global business...

News: Avon calls for scheme management overhaul.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth A GBP2bn local authority pension fund has completely overhauled its investment strategy in a move that will see Capital International and Wellington Management International terminated for underperformance. The...

News: Regulator's chief executive warns trustees to keep an eye out for scheme transfers.
October 9, 2006... Trustees must be on their guard against employers walking away from their pension responsibilities as the industry moves towards more innovative savings vehicles, the Pensions Regulator warned. Addressing a European pensions summit this...

News: Government fails pensioners over GBP2bn of lost entitlements.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams Pensioners are set to miss out on GBP2bn of pension credits, with almost half of those eligible failing to claim entitlements, advisers predicted. According to research carried out by independent financial...

News: Unions continue battle over 85-year rule.
October 9, 2006... Union officials vowed to continue fighting for the rights of local government workers after their judicial review against plans to axe the 85-year rule was quashed. The rule decides whether pensioners who retire early can still receive...

News: Worries over deferred members as MNTs.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Deferred members of occupational pension schemes who have moved to rival companies could be elected trustees of their old company's schemes under government rules. The Pension Regulator's guidance for...

News: Unconstrained product offering doubles.
October 9, 2006... Advisers have doubled the number of unconstrained fund managers offering unconstrained strategies they recomm-end to clients, citing an upsurge in product offering and quality. Hewitt Associates identified 17 fund managers that have the...

News: Gissings criticises trustees over lack of faith in LDI.
October 9, 2006... Trustees cannot hide behind concerns over fees when it comes to setting their investment strategy, advisers warned. Actuarial and investment consultant Gissings claimed the returns from investment strategies like liability-driven investment...

News: Londoners reveal greatest fear of retirement.
October 9, 2006... Londoners are the most scared of reaching retirement out of all UK regions, a survey said. Research by JPMorgan Invest on people's fear of aging and the impact on UK pension provision, revealed one in 10 Londoners admitted they were...

News: Beware the fund-of-hedge fund.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Funds-of-hedge funds have continued to entice institutional investors despite three-quarters of pension schemes admitting they were not satisfied with returns. The GBP280m Parliamentary Contributory Pension, the...

News: Age regs delay should not stop preparation.
October 9, 2006... Trustees should not delay action in relation to the age discrimination legislation despite having until December to prepare their pension schemes, advisers said. Simon Hazeldine, adviser at HSBC Actuaries and Consultants, said "This delay...

News: Savings dwindle as people live longer.
October 9, 2006... Thousands of workers risk burning up their savings well before they die because they set unrealistic retirement income plans, pension providers warned. According to research by Fidelity International, as many as nine out of 10 UK workers...

News: Women take control of savings.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams Britain's growing number of affluent women are shunning traditional pension savings in favour of more proactive methods of investment, advisers reported. Research from Investec Private Bank found only 35% of...

News: FSA sidesteps law with IFA client checks.
October 9, 2006... The government could be using Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) to get around its own religious discrimination laws on alternatively secured pensions (ASPs), pensions lobby groups claimed. The government's pensions simplification in...

News: Employees faced with too many fund choices.
October 9, 2006... Members of defined contribution (DC) pension schemes are swamped by choice as trustees panic over providing adequate investment choices, administrators warned. Speaking at the Pensions Management Institute's conference, Lesley Carline,...

News: Regulator launches final toolkit module for trustee training.
October 9, 2006... The Pensions Regulator has released its final scheme funding toolkit for pension trustees of defined benefit (DB) schemes. The DB recovery plans, contributions and funding module is the third and final tool in the regulator's free online...

News: Gwynedd scheme tenders for GBP35m equity mandate.
October 9, 2006... The GBP741m Gwynedd pension fund has put out to tender for a private equity manager. Five per cent of the fund will be invested in the private equity mandate, which will be managed on a fund-of-funds basis. This is the first time the...

News: Sting in the Tale - Scary premonitions.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Steve Bee I don't usually laugh out loud when I read press releases from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), but one it put out recently really caught me off guard. It concerns the work of the HMRC enforcement teams, whose job it is to go...

News: Unions and government opposed to NPSS delay.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Trade unions have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the government over comments it might reject proposals to make workers wait six months before joining the proposed National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS). The...

News: Nomura sets up global focused fund.
October 9, 2006... Nomura Asset Management has launched a global emerging market equities commingled fund aimed at pensions schemes looking for a regional manager focused approach. While the fund managers will run the Asian emerging markets regional...

News: Top firms sign climate statement.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Hannah Williams A plethora of institutional investors have thrown their weight behind the campaign to reduce greenhouse emissions, pledging to use their collective financial influence to clean up companies and governments. The...

News: Glitz and glamour proves its worth.
October 9, 2006... Investors should look to Hollywood and the bright lights of Tinseltown as a source of return, according to Pacific Continental Fund Management. The investment house reported returns of 22.21% on its Film Opportunities fund over the past 18...

News: Responsible investing takes full advantage.
October 9, 2006... Ethical investment funds are exploiting companies overlooked by their mainstream counterparts to boost returns, according to fund managers. F&C Asset Management said that while investors had often assumed ethical investing would...

Courses and Seminars.
October 9, 2006... Absence management - what works and why? October 12, Manchester. Contact Georgina Staniforth on 0161 837 6504. Changes to US pension liabilities - web briefing. October 19, online. Contact Louise Spooner on 020 7178 3218;...

News: Putnam predicts rising rates will lower returns.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth Investors should be ready to tighten their belts as the economic environment takes a downturn, fund managers warned. According to investment house Putnam, a rise in interest rates will push investors out of...

News: Merrill Lynch merges with BlackRock.
October 9, 2006... Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) has completed a multi-billion pound merger with US fund manager BlackRock. The deal, which brings assets under management for the business to GBP555bn as of June 30, will create one of the world's...

Campaign for Pensions Justice: Reporting the reality behind the headlines.
October 9, 2006... Ravenhead pension scheme member "I am facing retirement with great fear and uncertainty. How am I going to manage? The Ravenhead company was closed in 2001 by the administrators, the administration order was applied for by debtors,...

Governance Watch: Revenue adjustments and remuneration issues at iSoft.
October 9, 2006... iSoft will be holding its annual general meeting (AGM) on October 17. iSoft has encountered major difficulties during 2006. In January, it issued a trading statement warning of a sharp reduction in revenues and profitability for the year...

News: NAPF Notice Board.
October 9, 2006... NAPF events Al Gore and Ed Balls MP are to address delegates at the NAPF investment conference 2007. Record attendance levels are expected at the conference, when former US vice- president, Al Gore, and economic secretary to the...

Ombudsman Watch.
October 9, 2006... Which route? Those who wish to bring complaints about unlawful age discrimination and pensions will have a choice about the route they can take. They could present a complaint to an employment tribunal. Tribunal complaints must...

Spotlight: A bit of a shock.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Deborah Cooper Members of most defined benefit (DB) pension schemes will have received a summary funding statement from their scheme's trustees in September this year. The statements give members some background information about...

Opinion: Leader - Why are we saying one thing and doing another?
October 9, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth You'd be forgiven for rolling your eyes heavenward when you realise that the subject of my leader this week is liability-driven investment (LDI); I accept that the subject has penetrated the financial press to such...

Opinion: Personal View - Trustees and directors being placed on the same level will allow for better structuring within companies.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Matthew Giles When the company law reform bill comes into force at the end of the year it may move pension conflicts to the top of the corporate agenda and initiate a more meaningful analysis of the risks, and result in the...

Opinion: Inside View - Getting into films is no longer a risky business.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Peter Phelan Investing in films is notoriously risky - the film might not be made, it may flop at the box office, the company behind it might be struggling financially and if the technical quality of the production is poor,...

People on th Move: Gissings appoints duo to boost consulting team.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Ryan Harrison Gissings has boosted it actuarial consulting practice with the appointment of Neal Thompson and Geoff Arnold. Based in London, both will join as senior actuarial consultants. Thompson, who recently joined...

People on th Move: First State equities team gains quant advisers.
October 9, 2006... First State Investments has strengthened its global equities team with the appointment of Avinash Persaud and Dag Wetterwald. Persaud joins the team as senior quant adviser, drawing on an academic background in city research. He will...

People on th Move: SBJ's head of investing goes to Watson Wyatt.
October 9, 2006... SBJ Benefit Consultancy has lost its head of investment consulting to Watson Wyatt's expanding advisory team. David Aleppo, joins the company as senior investment consultant, reporting to Noel Grant. Previously an assistant consultant...

People on the Move: Withers moves in as TACT chairman.
October 9, 2006... HR Trustees' director Graham Withers has been appointed chairman of the pensions committee of The Association of Corporate Trustees (TACT). Withers, who is a solicitor with over 25 years' experience in the pensions industry, has acted as a...

People on th Move: Fidelity hires Jeffreys as chief admin officer.
October 9, 2006... Simon Jeffreys has been appointed by Fidelity International as its chief administrative officer. Jeffreys, who will be responsible for finance, operations and product development, joined from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he was the...

Special Survey: Finding the key to LDI understanding.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Gill Wadsworth As the UK's trustees face pressure to resolve their funding gaps and get their schemes in shape, the finance industry has been swift to proffer solutions and strategies with an emphasis on cash flow matching...

Special Survey: Can you believe the hype?
October 9, 2006... When the financial services industry gets excited about something it is hard to escape it. Liability-driven investment (LDI) is an investment framework that has really captured fund managers' imaginations and has been the focal point of...

Special Survey: Get the right balance.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Bob Guzman The UK pensions industry is becoming more familiar with the concept of liability-driven investment (LDI) and the benefits it can offer schemes looking to manage risk, at the same time as maintaining expected returns....

Special Survey: A careful approach.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Sarah Aitken The sharp equity market declines at the start of this decade - which left many UK pension schemes saddled with enormous funding deficits - served as a harsh reminder of the importance of understanding and managing...

Special Survey: Clearly in the frame.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Brandon Horwitz Liability-driven investment (LDI) is a structure for managing pension fund assets, which can encompass a wide range of different strategies and products. Cash flow matching is often described as one extreme, with...

Roundtable: LDI - LDI: Steady progress but a steep learning curve ahead.
October 9, 2006... Gill Wadsworth, editor, Pensions Week: We started with a fairly straightforward question about whether or not schemes had adopted a liability-driven investment (LDI) strategy. The survey found only about 20% of schemes are using LDI, does that...

Special Survey: Safe and secure.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Duncan Rankin At the moment, less than 10% of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes are said to have invested in hedge funds, and even fewer have adopted liability-driven investment (LDI) strategies. But at a time when interest in...

Special Survey: Facing up to the challenge.
October 9, 2006... Byline: Chris Nichols In spite of positive equity returns in recent years, pension schemes still face a barrage of troubling issues. Unstable funding levels due to unhedged liabilities, increasing longevity and an ongoing transformation in...

Company Profile: Aberdeen.(Company overview)
October 9, 2006... BACKGROUND Aberdeen Asset Management is an international investment management group, managing assets of over GBP71bn for both institutions and private individuals from offices around the world. Its mission is to deliver superior fund...

Company Profile: Insight Investment.(Company overview)
October 9, 2006... BACKGROUND Insight Investment was launched as the asset management business of the HBOS Group (formerly the Halifax and Bank of Scotland group of companies), in September 2002 and is the ninth largest UK asset manager, (July 2006 IMA...

Company Profile: Morgan Stanley.(Company overview)
October 9, 2006... BACKGROUND Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management, wealth management and credit services. The firm's employees serve clients worldwide...

Company Profile: Threadneedle Investments.
October 9, 2006... BACKGROUND Threadneedle Investments is a leading UK-based full service investment house. Founded in 1994, it manage more than GBP70.7bn across Europe* for a wide range of retail and institutional clients. Threadneedle is based in...

Company Profile: Standard Life Investments.
October 9, 2006... BACKGROUND Standard Life Investments was launched as an investment management company in 1998. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Life Investment (holdings) Limited which is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Life PLC....

News: DWP official condemns industry's self-interest.
October 16, 2006... Byline: Matthew Craig A top civil servant at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has accused the pensions industry of being riddled with vested interests that are blocking genuine pensions reform. Peter Askins, head of policy...