Funding – Page 164
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News
Dutch KPN pledges €120m for pensions
[15:30 CET 27-01] NETHERLANDS – The Dutch telecoms giant KPN today said the cover ratio of its €430m pension fund dropped to 94% at the end of last year, requiring the corporation to inject around €120m into its fund over the course of this year.
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News
Pensioner-only focus to drive 2009 buyouts
[15:15 CET 27-01] UK – The buyout market in 2009 is expected to rise by another £8bn (€8.55bn), similar to 2008, though the focus is likely to be on pensioner-only transactions, according to Lane Clark and Peacock (LCP).
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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%.
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Talking Point: The future of DB schemes
TALKING POINT – Research from the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) - suggesting 52%, or 1,000, open defined benefit (DB) schemes could close as a result of the impact of the economic crisis - has raised a debate on whether DB schemes can be saved.
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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).
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More time needed for Dutch recovery
[15:30 CET 26-01] NETHERLANDS – The Dutch employer organisation for the metal industry and union CNV have today argued pension funds need more time to recover from the global economic downturn than the current regulated timeframe.
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News
KPA Pension returns 7% in 2008
[15:15 CET 26-01] SWEDEN – KPA Pension, the SEK50bn (€4.8bn) Swedish public-sector pension company, returned 7% on its investments in 2008, despite the global economic downturn, IPE has learnt.
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News
Risk-free rates add £160bn to UK deficits
[16:10 CET 23-01] UK – A move to a risk-free rate of accounting as proposed by the UK accounting standards board (ASB) would add over £160bn (€170bn) to UK deficits of the Aon200 companies alone, Aon’s Marcus Hurd has warned.
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News
DNB prefers gradual recovery to claims cut - Hewitt
[16:00 CET 23-01] NETHERLANDS – The pensions regulator De Nederlandsche Bank would prefer pension funds with a shortfall of their financial reserves to gradually recover, rather than to base this process on discounting the pension claims of their participants, consultants have suggested.
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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.
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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.
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News
Tapiola Pension limits losses through equity cull
[16:15 CET 22-01] FINLAND – Preliminary figures from Tapiola Mutual Pension Insurance Company have revealed the firm generated a negative return of 8.3% in 2008, following its decision to reduce equity allocation over the year along with its lack of hedge fund exposure.
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NewsIrish MFS needs increase from 'junk' bond level
[16:00 CET 22-01] IRELAND – The minimum funding standard (MFS) for defined benefit (DB) pensions needs to be revised "as a matter of urgency" as it provides the same level of asset backing as a 'junk' bond, the Statistical & Social Inquiry Society of Ireland (SSISI) has warned.
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News
Lithuania overrides veto on contribution cut
[13:00 CET 22-01] LITHUANIA – The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has overruled a presidential veto of a law that cuts contributions to second pillar pension funds to 3% of a salary from the 5.5% to be paid in 2009 and 2010.
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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.
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News
Varma loses 15% in 2008
[16:00 CET 21-01] FINLAND – Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company has announced preliminary figures for 2008 showing the firm's investments made a loss of 15.2% last year.
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News
Royal Mail's £8bn deficit deterring investors
[15:30 CET 21-01] UK – The UK government will not be able to find a "strategic partner" to help modernise Royal Mail unless something is done about the pension deficit which is now estimated to stand at around £8bn (€8.52bn), Richard Hooper has warned.
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News
Pensions sector rejects recovery term age proposal
[15:00 CET 21-01] NETHERLANDS - The Dutch pension sector has revealed it is far from enthusiastic about proposals from the ministry of Social Affairs which would give underfunded pension funds leeway on the deadline for recovery plans if they agree to raise the official retirement age of 65.
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News
Swedish default fund loses over a third
[16:35 CET 20-01] SWEDEN – Premiesparfonden, the default fund in the Swedish Premium Pension System fell 36.2% in 2008, according to the latest figures from the Premium Pension Authority (PPM).
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News
PPF 'concerned' over future claim growth
[16:30 CET 20-01] UK – The Pension Protection Fund (UK), the UK's £5.2bn pension lifeboat fund, has revealed concerns over the growth in future claims from pension funds and the nature of recovery in the UK.
