All articles by Barbara Ottawa – Page 76
-
News
Romania allows alternatives in pensions
ROMANIA – Pension funds in Romania are now allowed to invest in private equity and commodities – to some extent.
-
News
Pensionskassen to be reformed
[16:55 CET 29-01] AUSTRIA – The Austrian government has put in place a reform commission today to discuss changes to the laws on pensionskassen, at the same time as pensioners are demonstrating in Vienna.
-
News
Last-minute gains fail to recover Polish funds
POLAND – After reporting the worst month since inception of the system, Polish pension funds managed to return 3.6% in November and December 2008.
-
News
AUA mulls flight from pensions payment
[16:45 CET 27-01] AUSTRIA – The Austrian airlines group AUA is considering halting payments to the Pensionskasse in a bid to save money.
-
News
Risk not rewarded in the medium-term
[15:00 CET 27-01] SWITZERLAND – Risk in Pensionskassen portfolios has not been rewarded over a longer period, Credit Suisse has claimed, while State Street has calculated pensionskassen saw an average 2008 return of -16.83%.
-
News
German DB losses lessened by bond rates
[16:00 CET 26-01] GERMANY – German companies saw their pension plans’ assets decline considerably over the last year but a rise in interest rates in the last quarter also helped reduce liabilities, according to a study by consultancy Rauser Towers Perrin (RTP).
-
News
Austrian funds average 13% loss
[15:30 CET 23-01] AUSTRIA – Average losses for Austria's 20 Pensionskassen amounted to -13.1% last year, according to preliminary calculations by their federation.
-
News
First Bulgarian fund fails minimum mark
[16:30 CET 22-01] BULGARIA – A Bulgarian pension fund has failed to generate the minimum rate of return set by the supervisor for the first time since the three-pillar pension fund system was created in 1999/2000.
-
News
Second pillar faith not withered yet
[16:30 CET 21-01] CEE – The current credit crisis has yet to damage people’s faith in the recently introduced funded pension systems in the CEE, suggested delegates at a conference on the region today.
-
News
Pension fund potential in CEE infrastructure
[15:30 CET 20-01] CEE – Local investors should take the chance to grab stable investment opportunities ino Central and Eastern Europe while many foreign investors remain wary, according to Werner Weihs-Raabl, head of group infrastructure finance and public sector at Erste Group.
-
News
Prospects for new-born Riester dampened
[14:30 CET 20-01] GERMANY – People should wait for better offers instead of signing the first Riester contracts for purchasing homes which have come onto the market, the consumer group Verbraucherzentrale NRW said.
-
News
Polish Treasury worried about Eureko
POLAND – The current situation of Dutch insurer Eureko was “a cause for concern for the Polish people” given Eureko’s commitment to the Polish market, the Treasury said in a statement.
-
News
Swiss funds hit historic returns low
[16:40 CET 15-01] SWITZERLAND – Swiss Pensionskassen posted a negative return of 13% for the full year 2008, according to preliminary calculations for the Credit Suisse Pensionskassenindex.
-
News
Front against conversion rate cut grows
[16:15 CET 14-01] SWITZERLAND – The largest union in Switzerland as well as several opposition parties are calling on people to sign up for a referendum against a cut of the conversion rate in second pillar pensions.
-
News
Consolidation stage set in Romania
ROMANIA – The Romanian pension market is set for consolidation within in its first full year of business, Simona Diţescu, CEO of BCR Administrare Fond de Pensii, has told IPE.
-
News
WWH urges accounting swaps be switched
[16:00 CET 12-01] GERMANY – Watson Wyatt Heissmann has called for revised German accounting standards, the so-called BilMoG bill, to be reversed as new accounting terms could lead to an enormous increase in German companies’ pension obligations.
-
News
Siemens opens Pensionskasse
[15:10 CET 18-12] AUSTRIA – The Austrian branch of international group Siemens is planning to turn its Pensionskasse into a multi-employer fund.
-
News
Polish funds deliver worst result ever
POLAND – Assets in polish pension funds were down -6.8% in October alone, making it the worst month in the history of the system.
-
News
RCM sees assets drop by 32% but stays ahead
[17:05 CET 16-12] AUSTRIA – Raiffeisen Capital Management (RCM) suffered outflows and losses of €12.2bn in the first 10 months of this year but maintained its market leadership, officials have claimed.
-
News
Expert supports full-funding holiday
[16:50 CET 15-12] SWITZERLAND – A Swiss pension consultant is supporting a call by Swiss centre-left politicians to postpone putting money into the Pensionskasse Basle-City during the current economic crisis.
