Asset Allocation – Page 150
-
Features
Address the fundamentals
If you ask the question why invest in emerging market equities, the answer is pretty straightforward: emerging market economies are going to be a much more significant part of the global economy in the future and growth rates are generally higher than developed countries. Jim O’Neil at Goldman Sachs estimates ...
-
Features
ABP eyes non-listed sector amid short-termism
Europe’s largest pension fund, the Dutch civil service giant ABP, is planning to shift the accent of its investments to non-listed companies and real estate, says chief investment officer Roderick Munsters. The main reasons are the increasing short-term thinking within the listed sector, and the growing pressure of corporate governance ...
-
Features
A noise about silence
The much delayed reform of the pension system is finally due to be implemented at the beginning of 2008. Not a moment too soon. While the date has slipped continuously over the years the urgency for reform grows in sympathy, as the fortunes of the new generation of pension funds ...
-
Features
Quenching the thirst
For many years Cyprus was a rather inaccessible economy. Artificially high interest rates and restrictions on the movement of capital did not inspire much thought or creativity, to put it mildly. And as the island’s abundant sunshine contrasted starkly with its reputation for shady dealings, money laundering being the primary ...
-
Features
Where size matters
The EU pensions directive is focusing the minds of Belgian pension funds. But it is not the implementation of the directive that is causing the major concern but a series of proposed changes that accompany it. The directive should have been introduced last September but legislation transposing its provisions into ...
-
Features
No longer a mirage?
It is safe to say that the single European market for asset managers is moving ever closer due to developments in the last year. A real single market in asset management is something for which the Investment Management Association’s (IMA) has been actively calling for more than three years. As ...
-
Features
Leading soundbites
Q1Are we moving out of a low interest rate environment? If so, do investors go from here? Q2In your view why are mega mergers such as Citigroup/Legg Mason and Merrill Lynch/BlackRock, happening and are there more to come? Q3The involvement of investment banks in pensions investment has been ...
-
Features
Why scheme members are key
Peter Scales is retiring as chief executive of the £3.5bn (€5bn) London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) and will leave the post at the end of the year. George Coats asks the questions What was your first full-time job – do you remember what you were paid at the time? ...
-
Features
UK pension industry split on national scheme
The UK’s pension industry appears split over the government’s proposed national pensions savings schemes. Investment providers have welcomed the idea but consulting firms have warned of higher costs and unintended consequences. The government White Paper, following up on the Pensions Commission proposals, said it would introduce a new low cost ...
-
Features
Global FX trading surges
Pension fund and asset manager activity in the global foreign exchange market grew 48% last year, according to consulting firm Greenwich Associates. “Average foreign exchange trading volumes among fund managers and pension funds increased almost 48% from 2004 to 2005,” the firm pointed out. “As a result of this growth, ...
-
Features
Irresistible rise of IMM funds
Over the last 10 years, investment in European triple-A rated institutional money market funds has been nothing short of remarkable. Since their inception, funds under management have grown to a figure of around $243bn (€191bn) as at 31st December 2005* – making it one of the fastest growing investment products ...
-
Features
What pension funds are looking for
Most people in our industry recognise that while pension schemes have become more demanding of investment strategies and implementation, most schemes remain in deficit and are becoming more mature. Accounting rules mean these deficits are much more visible with the result that pension provision has become a topic for national ...
-
Features
Swiss postal fund MD quits
Walter Kohler, managing director of Pensionskasse Post, a CHF12.2bn (e7.8bn) fund for Swiss postal employees, quit his post last month. Pensionskasse Post said Kohler’s resignation was prompted by “differences on future strategy” between him and the fund’s other executives. These executives include Yves-André Jeandupeux, who is president of Pensionskasse Post’s ...
-
Features
Europeans play pick and mix
As the deepest and most liquid market in the global investment universe, the US debt market cannot be ignored. But while it may provide an ocean of liquidity, has demand for US Treasuries, particularly from foreign investors, turned the ocean sterile for investors looking for sustenance? As Alex Over, director ...
-
Features
Getting ready for dramatic growth
The asset management industry in Russia is comparatively young and does not have a long history. The first civilised forms of regulating this market date back to 1995 when there appeared the Federal Commission for Securities Market (FCSM), licensing of asset management activities, and the first specialised money management companies. ...
-
Features
Exponential growth for Doverie
One of the effects of Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union next year would be to relax significantly the investment restrictions on the country’s second and third pillar pension funds. Bulgaria has already relaxed its investment restrictions on pension fund investment to conform with European pension legislation. This has removed ...
