All articles by David White – Page 27
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Features
Social security creates space for DC plans
Portugal’s new centre-right government, which came to power in March, could provide a spur to the development of private pensions in general and defined contribution (DC) plans in particular. This appears to be the consensus of the country’s pensions industry. Publicly, the view is that nobody knows what the new ...
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News
UK pension funds view private equity as 'trouble'
UK- The flight of UK pension funds from equities into bonds has dashed hopes that schemes would increase their investment in private equity, according to a senior pension fund consultant.
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News
ASIP opposes lowering of minimum pensions coverage
SWITZERLAND- The Swiss pension fund association, ASIP, which represents Switzerland’s company schemes, is opposing plans to lower the minimum level of mandatory supplementary pension coverage. It claims the move will result in “mini pensions”.
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News
Coors outsources administration to Paymaster
UK- The Coors Brewers Pension Plan, the former UK pension scheme of brewing giant Bass, has outsourced its administration to Paymaster.
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News
Polish pensions and insurance regulators merge
POLAND- Poland has merged its pensions and insurance regulators to create a “one-stop” financial services supervisor.
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Features
Good decisions need freedom
Continental European pension fund managers have more confidence in their pension fund boards and investment committees than UK counterparts have in their trustees. This was one of the findings to emerge from the Global Asset Study conference organised by benefits consultants Watson Wyatt in Brussels last month. In an electronic ...
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Features
Employers lead the flight to defined contribution
The move into defined contribution schemes in Austria had been driven almost entirely by the desire of businesses to remove their pension fund liabilities from their balance sheets. Until 1990 all occupational pension schemes in Austria were book reserve schemes. During the 1970s this created the problem of hidden liabilities ...
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Features
Individual investment choice under discussion
Employees of Austrian companies have two routes into defined contribution (DC) schemes: through an insurance contract or through a pensions fund contract. Before the introduction of the Pensionskassen system in 1990, the insurance route was the only one open to an employee. The employer takes out what is effectively a ...
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News
IKA considers external managers for e1.8bn
GREECE- Greece’s largest pension fund, the Social Security Foundation (IKA), is considering the use of external investment managers to manage E1.8bn of its assets.
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News
Swedish insurer outsources assets to ABN Amro
SWEDEN – Stockholm-based insurance group Länsförsäkringar has entered in to an agreement with Dutch investment manager ABN Amro to manage its SKr115bn (€12.7bn) assets.
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News
Austrian Government slated over Abfertigung plans
AUSTRIA- Austria’s pension funds and insurers have attacked the government’s plans for administering the Abfertigung neu, the reformed severance pay system, as costly and unnecessary.
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News
KAS to keep on course despite fall in business
NETHERLANDS - Turbulence in international markets last year took its toll on KAS Bank, the Netherlands-based specialist bank which is pursuing a strategy of pan-European provision of custody and securities services.
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News
ING buys CSFB custody business in Russia
RUSSIA - ING Bank (Eurasia), Russia’s largest custodian bank, has acquired Credit Suisse First Boston’s custody business in Russia
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News
Marks & Spencers joins ranks of defectors from DB
UK- The £3.4bn (€5.5bn) Marks & Spencer has become the latest UK company to close its final salary defined pension scheme plan to new entrants.
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News
Government to decide who runs severance pay system
AUSTRIA - The Austrian government will announce this week details of the Abfertigung neu, the reformed severance payment system that will vastly expand Austria’s corporate pensions market.
