All articles by Barbara Ottawa – Page 83
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News
German first pillar funds defended
[16:25 CEST 29-05] GERMANY – Pension funds for the self-employed have been given fresh support by the German government in a fight against dissolution plans put forward by unions and left-wing parties.
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News
APK moves into hedge fund of funds
SWITZERLAND – Aargauische Pensionskasse (APK) has made first foray into infrastructure and created a long/short equities portfolio, to further diversify its CHF7.6bn (€4.7bn) portfolio.
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News
Currency overlay useless – Swiss funds
[16:40 CEST 27-05] SWITZERLAND – Swiss pension funds do not believe in hedging their portfolio against currency risk, and are now especially critical of currency overlay, as evidence suggests the practice has not helped scheme finances.
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News
Metzler AUM up 10%
[16:05 CEST 23-05] GERMANY – The asset management division of Metzler, the Frankfurt based bank, saw an AUM increase of 10% – to €33bn – in 2007
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News
Czech funds see profits drop 60%
[15:00 CEST 22-05] CZECH REPUBLIC – Profits generated by Czech pension funds were slashed to CZK560m (€22.3m) for the first quarter, down from CZK1.4bn for the same period last year.
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News
UBS disposes of subprime-related embarrassment
[15:30 CEST 21-05] SWITZERLAND - Swiss bank UBS has sold $15bn (€9.7bn) worth of US residential mortgage-backed securities to a newly created distressed asset fund.
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News
Croatian funds grow 18%
CROATIA – The four mandatory pension funds of the Croatian second pillar increased their assets to HRK22bn (€3bn) over the last year even though returns dropped to -3% on average.
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NewsHalf of Germans support mandatory second pillar
[13:00 CEST 19-05] GERMANY – A survey of German consumers suggests employees would like the state to put pressure on people to make additional savings for retirement.
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News
Pensions industry takes anti-free choice stance
[16:25 CEST 16-05] SWITZERLAND – Giving individuals the option to choose their pension fund freely would “destroy the solidarity in the system”, participants at a panel discussion in Zurich have argued.
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News
Swiss funds dispute caution around SRI
[15:30 CEST 16-05] SWITZERLAND – The latest Swisscanto pension fund survey reveals only 6% of Pensionskassen assets are invested according to sustainable criteria – but the funds themselves beg to differ.
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NewsSwiss funds join critics of new solvency rules
[12:30 CEST 15-05] SWITZERLAND – Swiss Pensionskassen fear there could be major financial burdens arising from the discussed application of the country's very own revised solvency regime for insurers, known as Swiss Solvency Testing.
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News
Pensions "safe until 2050" – Austrian minister
[15:45 CEST 13-05] AUSTRIA – Contribution increases to the first pillar pension, designed to cope with demographic changes, should not be left to “soulless calculating machines”, Austrian social affairs minister Erwin Buchinger has suggested.
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News
Austrian bank to compensate pensioners
[16:05 CEST 08-05] AUSTRIA – BA-CA bank is going to compensate pensioners for cuts in benefits resulting from lower-than-expected performance in the Pensionskasse.
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News
German gov’t plans threaten pension savings – industry
[16:15 CEST 08-05] GERMANY – The German government wants to make it more attractive for companies to offer their employees shareholdings – but both employer and pension industry representatives fear this might have a negative effect on supplementary pension provision.
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News
TAA in Q1 disappoints Swiss funds
[11:45 CEST 08-05] SWITZERLAND – Half of Swiss pension funds made tactical adjustments to their asset allocation in the first quarter but were disappointed by the results, Swiss consultant Lusenti has found.
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News
Insurers see Austrians take pensions risks
[15:30 CEST 07-05] AUSTRIA – Traditional life insurance sales are on the decline while insurance-based pensions investment fund solutions are growing fast, the Austrian federation of insurers (VVÖ) said.
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News
Liechtenstein looks at DB switch for €230m public fund
[11:00 CEST 06-05] LIECHTENSTEIN – The CHF330m (€230m) public fund for federal employees in Liechtenstein might be changed from a defined benefit to a defined contribution system.
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FeaturesA pensions stalemate
Reform of Austria’s severance pay system in 2000 has led to a curious impasse between new dedicated savings funds and exiting pension funds. Now some are calling time on Pensionkassen, Barbara Ottawa finds
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FeaturesInstitutions focus on risk
German investment managers are seeing increasing demand for risk management services, including high reporting standards. And this has heightened in the wake of the credit crunch. Barbara Ottawa asked asset managers for their views on current thinking and on the outlook and trends in institutional business
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FeaturesTaking the CTA to the Mittelstand
Barbara Ottawa examines the reasons behind the growth of group CTA products
