All articles by Daniel Brooksbank – Page 45
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Watson Wyatt names Urwin to board
GLOBAL - Watson Wyatt Worldwide has named Roger Urwin, its global practice director for investment consulting, to its board of directors.
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Society of Pension Consultants names Ashworth
UK – The Society of Pension Consultants has named Law Debenture’s Mark Ashworth to take over as president from Robert Birmingham.
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Watson advised on 17 UK swaps deals in 2005
UK – Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting says it advised on 17 swap transactions for UK clients last year.
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Ex-Mercer’s Donaldson joins PSolve
UK – PSolve Asset Solutions says it has hired former Mercer Investment Consulting consultant Fiona Donaldson.
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Merrill sells MLIM to BlackRock
GLOBAL – Merrill Lynch is to sell its asset management arm Merrill Lynch Investment Managers to BlackRock for a gain of around $1.1bn (€923m).
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Mercer HR Consulting’s 2005 revenues flat
GLOBAL – Mercer Human Resource Consulting had revenues last year of $2.7bn (€2.3bn) - flat with the 2004 figure -parent Marsh & McLennan Companies said.
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Schemes warned of hedge fund “herd mentality”
EUROPE – European pension funds have been warned about a possible “herd mentality” developing in hedge funds.
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Equities to save pensions crisis – LSE chief
UK – The chairman of the London Stock Exchange, Christopher Gibson-Smith, has argued that equities are the right asset to meet pension liabilities and fund retirement.
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Average trustee ‘lacks education, qualifications’
UK – The average pension fund trustee in the UK lacks the education and qualifications to be an informed consumer of advice and decision-making, according to new Oxford University research.
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State Street wins €950m in UK servicing briefs
UK - State Street says it has won a total of almost £650m (€950.8m) in investment servicing mandates from four separate UK pension fund clients.
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Philips to pay €1.1bn into pension funds
NETHERLANDS – Dutch industrial giant Philips’ pension costs are to more than double this year to over €1bn – including €584m in the UK in response to “regulatory changes”.
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PGGM revamps strategy, abandons asset classes
NETHERLANDS – PGGM, the €71bn Dutch health care pension fund, has announced that it will change its investment management structure, abandoning the conventional approach based on asset classes.
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Sweden’s Länsförsäkringar returns 14.9%
SWEDEN – Swedish insurance alliance Länsförsäkringar made a life assurance return of 14.9% in 2005, allowing it to raise its bonus to 9%.
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Commission says Europe needs more ageing reform
EUROPE – The European Commission says European Union governments need to step up reform efforts to deal with their ageing populations.
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Asset managers say Turner plan workable
UK – The UK’s asset management trade group has come out in defence of Lord Turner’s Pension Commission proposal for a National Pensions Savings Scheme, saying the idea is “perfectly workable”.
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ABP/PGGM’s AlpInvest boosts Eden commitment
UK – AlpInvest, the private equity firm sponsored by the two largest Dutch pension funds ABP and PGGM, has increased its investment in technology start-up fund Eden One.
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Aon puts €386m into own pension funds
GLOBAL – Insurance and consulting group Aon Corp. says it put $463m (€386.7m) into its own main pension funds in 2005.
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AP2 hails TAA as it returns 18.7%
SWEDEN – The Second Swedish National Pension Fund/AP2, in the news this week amid Old Mutual’s bid for Skandia, has announced an 18.7% return in 2005.
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Slow-to-take-off Irish PRSAs grow to €451m
IRELAND – The total assets in Ireland’s Personal Retirement Savings Accounts have grown to €451m – although there is no change in the overall trend on take-up, the Pensions Board says.
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No need to hedge FX long-term – ABN Amro study
GLOBAL – Investors don’t need not hedge currency over the long term because it “all comes out in the wash”, according to a new study by ABN Amro and the London Business School.
