All articles by Hugh Wheelan – Page 30
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News
BGI picks up e200m Italian institutional mandate
ITALY – Barclays Global Investors (BGI) has received a significant boost in its push into the Italian institutional and retail market with the award of an e200m active tactical asset allocation mandate from one of the world’s oldest banks, the Fondazione Monte dei Pascha di Siena (MPS Foundation)....
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Belgacom postpones decision on e300m alternatives
BELGIUM – The country’s largest pension fund, the e3.5bn Belgacom scheme, has postponed until August a key strategy review that could see part of an e300m inflow to the fund invested for the first time with new managers in hedge fund, property and credit briefs....
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New Proximus fund opts for Fortis and ABN-AMRO
BELGIUM - Proximus, the mobile phone subsidiary of Belgacom – the Belgian telecommunications group, has appointed investment managers Fortis and ABN-AMRO for passive and active equity briefs respectively, following the transfer of assets into its fledgling pension fund....
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Van Lanschot hires FMC for investment operations
NETHERLANDS – ‘s-Hertogenbosch based private and institutional asset manager Van Lanschot Asset Management has selected the Financial Models Company (FMC) to manage its front-to-back office investment operations....
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Shell fund deputy CIO leaves for US asset manager
NETHERLANDS – Henk Brulleman, deputy CIO of the approximately NLG29.5bn Shell pension fund (Shell Pensioenfonds Beheer -SPB) is to leave his post at the end of the month to join US quant/alternative investment house Numeric Investors Limited Partnership, as the company’s European director…..
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Occupational pensions reduce poverty, says report
UK – Increases in the number of people who retire with an occupational pension have been a major factor in the decline of poverty among pensioners in recent years, according to research commissioned by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF)....
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AXA rolls out venture fund of funds in Germany
GERMANY – AXA Investment Managers is to offer German institutional investors access to a range of private equity products through its Frankfurt office, including fund of funds, secondary funds and venture capital....
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Top spot for Legrand at Luxembourg funds body
LUXEMBOURG – Guy Legrand has been named as the new president of the Luxembourg Investment Funds Association...
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Belgian association outlines views on pensions law
BELGIUM - The Belgian Association of Pension Funds (BAPF) has issued a checklist of pensions issues that it believes need highlighting and technically clarified ahead of the forthcoming hearing in the country’s parliament on the so-called Vandenbroucke law for complimentary ‘social’ pension plans....
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BG selects SSGA for £190m passive/currency briefs
UK – The newly-created £250m (e410m)defined benefit (DB) BG pension scheme for international oil and gas company BG Group (formerly British gas) has selected State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) for multi-asset and currency overlay mandates totalling £190m...
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Karas slams EU ministers for sloth over directive
EUROPE – Austrian MEP, Othmar Karas, the European Parliament rapporteur for the occupational pensions directive, has slammed the Ecofin Council of Ministers for its lack of progress in taking a position on the proposed legislation....
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Watson Wyatt appoints new Spanish office director
Consultant Watson Wyatt in Spain has appointed Javier Fañanás as director of its Barcelona office....
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Kas bags Kajtazi for UK custody push
UK/NETHERLANDS – Dutch custodian bank, Kas-Associatie, has brought on board Ben Kajtazi from Brown Brothers Harriman as the group’s first relationship manager for its recently launched UK operations....
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EMAC adopts Karas report on pensions directive
EUROPE DIRECTIVE SPECIAL – The European Monetary Affairs Committee (EMAC) has voted unanimously to adopt the Karas report on the occupational pensions directive by 22 votes in favour to six against....
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Prudent rules may be mandatory within four years
EUROPEAN DIRECTIVE SPECIAL – The prudent person investment rule for European pension funds could be mandatory throughout the EU within four years, following proposals for a review of the timeframe for the abolition of quantitative rules voted by the European Monetary Affairs Committee (EMAC) today (June 19).
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Directive can't be blocked by minority vote
EUROPEAN DIRECTIVE SPECIAL – The European Monetary Affairs Committee (EMAC) has voted to place the forthcoming occupational pensions directive under the rules for adoption of financial services proposals, in a decision that effectively prevents a minority of Member States from blocking its passage....
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VKG shortlists four in e50m mandate search
BELGIUM – The e550m Brussels based VKG/CPM pension fund for doctors, dentists and pharmacists has shortlisted four managers, including two from the US, for an e45-50m property mandate....
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One in ten DB plans could close within a year
UK – More than one in ten defined benefit (DB) pension schemes say they are likely to close their final salary plans to new members within one year and introduce new pension arrangements....
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News
State Street eyes European corporate trust market
EUROPE – State Street is expanding its corporate trust business in Europe to meet what it says is a growing demand amongst institutional investors....
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Italy's Fondo Famiglia seeks pan-European partners
ITALY – Fondo Pensione Complementare per la Famiglia (Fondo Famiglia), the potentially fifteen million strong pension fund for Italian housewives and part-time workers, is sounding out partnerships with similar European family organisations that could create a giant pan-European retirement scheme for the social sector....
