Investor Strategy – Page 145

  • News

    Pension funds back private equity move into RI

    2009-02-10T15:40:00Z

    [15:40 CET 13-02] GLOBAL – The £28bn (€32bn) Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) is one of a number of pension funds to support the introduction of guidelines for responsible investment (RI) by private equity firms.

  • News

    Actively-managed assets underperformed - Hewitt

    2009-02-10T15:15:00Z

    [16:15 CET 10-02] NETHERLANDS - Most actively-managed assets underperformed last year because of the additional costs charged over passive strategies, Hewitt Associates has suggested.

  • News

    Siemens fund taps into sponsor's venture capital FoF

    2009-02-10T14:15:00Z

    [15:15 CET 10-02] GERMANY – The German pension fund of Siemens AG, Europe's largest engineering company, and two insurers will provide the first $100m (€78m) for the company’s first venture capital fund of funds.

  • News

    IPE winner delivers positive return

    2009-02-10T11:00:00Z

    [12:00 CET 10-02] NETHERLANDS - De Eendragt Pensioenfond, the pension fund-turned insurance company and winner of the highest accolade at last year’s IPE Awards, has bucked the current trend in Dutch pensions investment by delivering a 4.4% positive return in 2008.

  • News

    DB sponsors fear scheme impact

    2009-02-09T15:55:00Z

    [16:55 CET 09-02] UK – Research suggests nine out of 10 companies with a defined benefit (DB) pension fund are worried about the impact their scheme will have on the business.

  • News

    Co-operative could provide pensions solace – Santing

    2009-02-09T15:35:00Z

    [16:35 CET 09-02] NETHERLANDS – Dutch pension funds should join forces as co-operatives to prevent being forced further into short-term thinking, according to Gerald Santing, former director of the Netherlands Authority of the Financial Markets (AFM).

  • News

    Measure to show the shape of corporate pensions

    2009-02-04T16:20:00Z

    [17:20 CET 04-02] UK – Consulting firm Hymans Robertson has unveiled what it hopes will become a recognised ‘safe’ method for assessing pensions risk to a company’s financial status.

  • News

    Pensions Board updates DB funding standard rules

    2009-02-04T14:45:00Z

    [15:45 CET 04-02] IRELAND – The Irish Pensions Board has issued revised guidelines for pension schemes wanting to extend recovery periods for scheme funding past 10 years.

  • News

    Global pension assets drop 18% in 2008

    2009-02-03T15:30:00Z

    [16:30 CET 03-02] GLOBAL – Economic conditions have resulted in the largest annual decline in global pension fund assets “for many years”, as the total value of pension pots fell 18% in 2008 to $25trn (€19.6trn), according to research from International Financial Services London (IFSL).

  • News

    Pension funds expect hedge fund losses

    2009-02-03T13:00:00Z

    [14:00 CET 03-02] EUROPE - Almost three quarters of surveyed pension funds expect to see a negative net-of-fee performance of more than 5% on their hedge fund investments for 2008, suggests IPE research.

  • News

    Merseyside reviews £320m unconstrained bonds

    2009-02-02T15:40:00Z

    [16:40 CET 02-02] UK – Merseyside pension scheme has issued a tender notice for two fixed income managers to run unconstrained sterling broad market mandates equivalent to 8% of the fund’s assets.

  • News

    French reserve fund loses a quarter

    2009-02-02T15:20:00Z

    [16:20 CET 02-02] FRANCE - The Fonds de reserve pour les retraites (FRR) has revealed its assets decline by 24.8% during 2008.

  • News

    Consumer body rallies against recovery plan delay

    2009-02-02T14:45:00Z

    [15:45 CET 02-02] NETHERLANDS – Consumentenbond, the large Dutch consumers’ lobbying organisation, has spoken out against calls for a more generous recovery period for underfunded pension funds.

  • News

    Unite agree Ineos deal as sights turn to Selex

    2009-01-30T15:50:00Z

    [16:50 CET 30-01] UK – Unite the Union has confirmed the pensions dispute with INEOS over planned changes to the defined benefit (DB) pension scheme is at an end after revised proposals, such as the scheme remaining open to new entrants, were accepted by members.

  • News

    Merseyside tenders for transition manager panel

    2009-01-30T15:05:00Z

    [16:05 CET 30-01] UK – Merseyside Pension Fund has issued a tender to establish a framework list of transition managers who would aid the movement of assets between investment managers following strategy changes.

  • News

    ABP bleak on recovery prospects

    2009-01-29T15:50:00Z

    [16:50 CET 29-01] NETHERLANDS – ABP, the largest Dutch pension fund which today revealed its assets had dropped by €44bn in 2008 to €173bn, has warned signs of a structural recovery on the equity markets are scarce.

  • News

    Funds blame bulk of decline on interest rates

    2009-01-29T15:40:00Z

    [16:40 CET 29-01] NETHERLANDS – Major pension funds have argued up to two-thirds of the decline in their cover ratios, which now hover between 85% and 100%, was because of the steep drop in interest rates.

  • News

    One in four plans up mortality assumptions

    2009-01-27T15:30:00Z

    [16:30 CET 27-01] UK – More than a quarter of UK pension schemes are planning to switch to a long cohort mortality projection for their mortality assumptions, potentially increasing life expectancy by almost two years, suggests research from Mercer.

  • News

    Progress to sell property for unlisted strategy (UPDATED)

    2009-01-27T15:15:00Z

    [16:15 CET 17-01 NETHERLANDS - The Dutch pension fund of food giant Unilever, will sell its entire Dutch direct property portfolio and switch its real estate investment strategy to unlisted international real estate funds.

  • News

    Talking Point: The future of DB schemes

    2009-01-26T15:45:00Z

    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.