All Country Reports – Page 52
-
Country Report
The Nordic Region: Guarantees Too much of a good thing
Guaranteed pensions products in Denmark and Sweden for a long time looked too good to be true and perhaps they are. At least, they are too expensive for the providers to retain, which has led to various strategies – either closing the products for new investors or persuading people to ...
-
Country Report
The Nordic Region: ‘Luckily, we don’t have Solvency II’
Martin Steward spoke to pension insurer Varma about how it manages its solvency levels and the impact Solvency II-style rules would have
-
Country Report
The Nordic Region: Fees under scrutiny
Rachel Fixsen assesses Danish pension funds’ transparency about costs and fees
-
Country Report
The Nordic Region: Nordic investors take a cautious line
Henrik Hoffmann-Fischer outlines key findings on asset allocation, as well as trends on global versus regional mandates, based on the sixth Nordic Investor Survey
-
Country Report
The Nordic Region: Local safe havens: a catch 22
Nordic pension funds have always displayed a bias towards domestically issued fixed income. In the current economic climate, dominated by historically low bond yields and liability-matching, the illiquidity and short maturities that characterise these markets are causing inefficencies in investment models. Nina RÖhrbein reports on the responses of regional players
-
Country Report
The Nordic Region: Solvency II New rules of the game
With full implementation now likely in 2014, Solvency II is looming. Rachel Fixsen examines some of the implications for Danish, Norwegian and Swedish pension institutions
-
Country Report
The Nordic Region: Investing in cleaner solutions
The outlook for investing in renewables, and cleantech in general, ought to be optimistic as the world is fighting to stop global warming and other climate issues. Pirkko Juntunen assesses the approaches of Nordic institutions
-
Country Report
Spain: Shift from conventional assets?
Some see diversification as a trump card as they weather domestic and global economic turbulence, writes Cecile Sourbes
-
Country Report
Spain: The pensions piggy bank
Spain’s heavily indebted regional communities are in pursuit of the €65bn Social Security Reserve Fund. Some think that might not be such a good idea, writes Jim Robinson
-
Country Report
Spain: Lessons from Chile
Enrique Munita and Inigo Sagardoy outline aspects of Chile’s funded pension system that might apply to Spain
-
Country Report
Portugal: The wind of change
Gail Moss assesses pensions policy in Portugal following the bail-out
-
Country Report
The Netherlands: Social partners take the plunge
The Dutch social partners and cabinet have agreed on a major overhaul of the pension system. Leen Preesman reports
-
Country Report
The Netherlands: Devil in the details
The new pension agreement is an important step towards a necessary reform of the Dutch pensions system, but many of the agreement’s provisions still need to be fleshed out. Olaf Sleijpen of De Nederlandsche Bank finds that the devil is in the detail, as Leen Preesman and Mariska van der ...
-
Country Report
The Netherlands: Better in Belgium?
Mariska van der Westen finds out about the benefits that convinced a Dutch pension fund to join a Belgian OFP
-
Country Report
The Netherlands: Count the cost
An AFM report has revealed that Dutch pension funds are spending up to £3bn a year on hidden asset management costs, reports Mariska van der Westen
-
Country Report
UK: Policy pending
Over a year after the new government assumed office, Jonathan Williams examines whether a flood of new proposals has been beneficial or detrimental to the pensions industry
-
Country Report
UK: Proof in the pudding
Joanne Segars, of the NAPF, says there are flaws in the UK’s pensions policies. Jonathan Williams reports
-
Country Report
UK: Mind the gap, please!
Nina Röhrbein reports on private sector funds’ strategies to deal with funding shortfalls
-
Country Report
UK: Conservative approaches
Raj Mody finds that UK companies could be over-paying into defined benefit pension schemes by up to £5bn (€5.7bn) a year
-
Country Report
UK: The buyout market in 2011
Clive Wellsteed reviews the findings of LCP’s fourth annual report on the buyout market
