All articles by Barbara Ottawa – Page 60
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News
BT&T's Meier arrested in connection with canton of Zürich pension fund scandal
SWITZERLAND – Walter Meier, head of the Swiss venture capital firm BT&T Timelife, was arrested in connection with the enquiry into an alleged corruption scandal at the Zürich Pensionskasse for civil servants.
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News
Switzerland's BVK stands by "aggressive" strategic asset allocation
SWITZERLAND – The Swiss Pensionskasse for civil servants in the canton of Zürich (BVK) has decided to stick with its current strategic asset allocation (SAA) despite the fact a recent asset liability study (ALM) found it aggressive.
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News
Head of Swiss BVK asset management team arrested for misconduct
SWITZERLAND – The head of asset management at BVK – the manager of the Pensionskasse for civil servants in Zürich – has been arrested for alleged misconduct and corruption, the canton's finance department has confirmed.
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News
Handful of Pensionskassen failed 2009 stress test, BaFin says
GERMANY – Only six Pensionskassen failed their stress tests for the year to the end of 2009, according to BaFin, the German supervisory authority.
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News
German public auditor calls for risk-free pension fund investment
GERMANY – The public auditing board of the German province of Saxony-Anhalt has criticised the finance ministry for taking "unnecessary risks", such as investing pension fund assets in equities.
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News
ABP and EC move closer to eliminating 'discriminatory' tax laws
EUROPE – Unequal tax treatment of foreign pension funds in the EU took a step closer to being eradicated this week after ABP claimed it had made a “breakthrough” with the Norwegian government and the European Commission referred Germany to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
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Country ReportSwitzerland: Funding questions
Barbara Ottawa assesses the decision of the Swiss authorities not to force public funds to move to full funding over the coming decades
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News
AHV recovers surplus ahead of its planned separation
SWITZERLAND – The Swiss first pillar fund AHV recovered from a financial deficit in 2008 to a surplus in 2009, posting a return of 11.5% ahead of its planned separation into three discrete entities.
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Country Report
Switzerland: The wrong conversion
Barbara Ottawa assesses March’s national referendum on the mandatory conversion rate for Swiss pensions. This political victory for the few might prove detrimental to the many who will now have to pay higher contributions
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News
Aegon fails to make return as Czech funds post 2.28%
CZECH REPUBLIC – The ten pension funds of the Czech Republic maintained fixed income-heavy portfolios in the first quarter of 2010, posting average returns of 2.28% over the three-month period.
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News
Swiss Gemini fund wins fees battle
SWITZERLAND – The CHF2.3bn (€1.6bn) Swiss Gemini multi-employer fund is set to receive CHF6.4m in compensation following a three-year legal battle with an affiliate that withheld fees payable to the scheme.
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News
Swiss guarantee fund reports lowest payout in decades
SWITZERLAND – The CHF859.6m (€602.3m) Swiss “Sicherheitsfonds”, the fund for insolvency protection of Pensionskassen, reported the lowest pay-out for 15 years in 2009 as it adjusted its asset allocation.
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News
German cooperatives fund to diversify away from fixed income
GERMANY – The €300m German pensionskasse for cooperatives (Pensionskasse der Genossenschaftsorganisation) has changed its fixed-income portfolio in the wake of the financial crisis and is considering further asset diversification.
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News
Austrian funds increase equity allocation in Q1
AUSTRIA – Official figures for the first quarter performance show a significant increase in the equity holdings of Austrian pensionskassen, which are the subject of further reform proposals.
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NewsAba calls for greater German Pensionsfonds flexibility
GERMANY – Pensionfonds will not thrive in Germany unless they are subject to less bureacracy and more regulatory flexibility, members of the German pension fund association Aba have argued.
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News
IAS 19 proposals would drive down risk appetite – Towers Watson
GERMANY – Proposed changes to the accounting standards for pension benefits (IAS 19) could leave German schemes more risk-averse and increase the implicit costs for insolvency protection PSV, Alfred Gohdes, head of actuarial consulting at Towers Watson in Frankfurt noted.
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News
Romanian austerity measures threaten second pillar
ROMANIA – The Romanian finance ministry is seeking to cut the contribution rate to the second pillar from 2.5% to 0.5%, but is facing opposition from the country’s pensions industry.
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News
Austria needs pension simplification not guarantees, experts warn
AUSTRIA – More guarantees in Austria's second pillar would serve only to complicate the system and fuel public doubts, according to advisory and academic experts.
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News
Deutsche Post employs niche active managers for Pensionfonds
GERMANY – Deutsche Post’s recently established Pensionsfonds has employed active managers for its small-cap equities and commodities investments, but has so far shied away from alternative investments, according to group pensions director Benedikt Köster.
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News
Swiss funds shying from their core business – Profond
SWITZERLAND – Swiss Pensionskassen are shying away from longevity risk by outsourcing pensioners and switching to DC, a trend criticised by Herbert Brändli, head of the multi-employer fund Profond.
