Asset Allocation – Page 176
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Features
The 'undramatising' chairman
Sigbjørn Johnsen says that when he was approached to head a commission intended to coax a consensus on pension reform from Norway’s political parties he saw it as “quite a challenge”, sidestepping phrases like ‘poison chalice’ and ‘herding cats’. “During the 1990s there had been a number of reports on ...
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Features
BVK spreads its wings
Germany’s biggest pension provider, the multi-employer Bayerische VersorgungsKkammer, is about to become bigger. It is to add another occupational group – the psychologists – to the 12 already covered. “This is a brand new arrangement with just 1,000 members to start with, so for reasons of economy of operations, they ...
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Features
Bullish on commodities
IPE asked three pension funds in three countries – the Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland – the same question: ‘Do you agree with investment guru Jim Rogers that commodities are the only pure bull market in the world?’ Here are their answers: Vera Kupper Staub, CIO of Pensionskasse der Stadt ...
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Special Report
Where does the buck stop?
Is there an optimal model of pension fund governance? If so, how should it be applied to Europe’s occupational pension plans? These were the key questions at a discussion on pension fund governance organised by pension fund consultants Akkermans Stroobants & Partners in Antwerp recently, attended by pension fund managers, ...
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Features
Austrian players look east
The Austrian market is both crowded and highly regulated – not encouraging signs for current or potential participants. Things are changing for the better, but is the market ready? One of the most important developments in the Austrian institutional market has been the implementation of UCITS 3 for investment funds. ...
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Features
Looking after your family's financial health
The past five years have proved to be a bit of a learning curve for investors, who have been confronted with the true nature of the risk involved in investment management. High-net-worth families have been no exception and the process of wealth management has evolved on several fronts. Alex Scott, ...
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Features
ABS market forges ahead
Europe’s asset backed market enjoyed pretty good health in 2004 – fewer downgrades than upgrades, hardly any defaults, and narrowed spreads. And, says Denis Badalucco, manager of HSBC Asset Management’s Asset Backed Securities (ABS) funds, liquidity also improved over the course of the year. “For our money market asset backed ...
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Features
Stalemate in Prague
The works of Czech 20th century literary giants Franz Kafka, Good Soldier Svejk author Jaroslav Hasek and Vaclav Havel come to mind as one watches the country grapple with the question of pension reform. While the Czech Republic emerged from its kafkaesque period with the fall of the Berlin Wall ...
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Features
Spending risk in the right places
Most pension funds currently use a two-stage process in determining investment strategy. First, they determine their strategic asset allocation (SAA) using asset liability modelling based on the unique liability characteristics of the fund. This creates the allocation to various asset classes known as the policy benchmark. Managers are then appointed ...
