GERMANY - Hannoversche Kassen (HK), a €113m multi-employer pension fund in the state of Lower Saxony, is seeking a new team leader for its investments department.

In a posting on its website, HK said the successful candidate would "have several years of experience in one or more of the following areas: investing, project finance and lending".

It added that the team leader would report to Hilmar Dahlem, HK's managing director.
Contacted by IPE, Dahlem was not immediately available for comment.

HK, which insures 8,000 employees in Lower Saxony, is a German Pensionskasse, or insurance-type scheme. As such, it guarantees a minimum annual return of 2.25% and takes an ultra-conservative approach to investing.

Last month, the fund disclosed that it had 31% of assets in fixed income and 40% in real estate loans. It also said that 22% of its €113m was invested directly in real estate while 2% was in equities and cash.

HK's net return for its 2005/2006 business year was 4%, on par with the average for Pensionskassen. These schemes make up around one-fifth of the €381bn in German corporate pension assets.

Separately, PK, a €222m Pensionkasse tied to co-operative firms in Bavaria, has reported that the number of its insured rose 17% in 2006 to total 18,000. PK also has 2,000 pensioners to whom it paid out €6.4m in benefits.

PK did not disclose its asset allocation for 2006. At the end of 2005, it said it had 37% invested directly in fixed income and 13% invested directly in real estate.

Another 45% was allocated to "investment shares" whose nature the scheme did not elaborate on. This portion likely included equities as well as bond funds. Another 5% was in cash.

PK's return for 2005 was, however, 5.3% or above the 4% average for Pensionskassen.