NETHERLANDS - Officials at the Dutch pension fund PNO Media say they see fresh opportunities in investing in alternatives so plan to allocate another 5% of assets to this investment asset class this year.

The industry-wide pension fund for corporations in the media industry has decided it will increase its alternatives portfolio - which invests in private equity and infrastructure among other things - from 20% to 25% by the end of this year.

Despite turbulent markets, the fund believes there are healthy investment opportunities mainly in the private equity sphere.

Last month, PNO Media reported spectacular returns of 41.1% on its investments in commodities in the first half of this year, while property, private equity and infrastructure returned 2%, 3.2% and 2.2% respectively.

However, tumbling equity markets caused an overall negative return for the fund in the first half year of -5.2%.

At the time, the scheme reported its cover ratio had dropped 5.2% to 116.4% by the end of June 2008, which is below the required minimum of 119% set by the regulator DNB and based on the fund's specific investment risks.

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