Investor Strategy – Page 202
-
News
UBS asset management arm nearly doubles institutional fund inflows
SWITZERLAND – UBS Global Asset Management said inflows to its institutional business nearly doubled to CHF 23.7bn (€15.3bn) in 2004.
-
News
UK actuaries start huge shake-up after report on conflicts of interest
UK actuaries are facing its biggest shake-up in the last 100 years as the government –appointed expert recommends independent scrutiny of the profession and other measures to address the “quite serious” problems and conflicts of interest it faces.
-
News
ABP's incoming chief warns against bonds, preferring commodities
UK – Roderick Munsters, the incoming investment chief at the €168bn Dutch civil service fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP says he thinks bonds are not currently attractive – and that he wouldn’t bet against commodities.
-
News
AP7 names central bank’s Ragnartz chief analyst
SWEDEN – The SEK5bn (€550m) seventh Swedish national pension fund, AP7, has appointed fund manager Christian Ragnartz of the Central Bank, Sveriges Riksbank, as chief analyst.
-
News
Mercer scathing about Myners revisions
UK – Consulting firm Mercer Investment Consulting has issued a broadside against the government’s proposed revisions to the Myners Principles on institutional investment.
-
News
Investors in hedge fund blow-up join forces
GERMANY – Investors in the Phoenix Kapitaldienst GmbH, the funds of hedge funds firm under investigation for accounting irregularities, have pulled together to protect their interests.
-
News
Jobs threat as RWE outsources (Update)
UK – In-house pensions administration staff at a UK arm of German utility RWE have been offered voluntary redundancy amid an outsourcing deal with Capita Hartshead (updates with number of staff).
-
News
Vernooy to retire from Unilever scheme
NETHERLANDS - Alco Vernooy is to retire as managing director at the €3bn Progress pension fund at Unilever and be replaced by Loek Sibbing from Volker Wessels.
-
News
Dutch schemes invest €51bn abroad
NETHERLANDS - Dutch pension funds invested €51bn in foreign bonds and equities last year, says Statistics Netherlands CBS in a provisional report.
-
News
Dutch schemes focusing on low interest rates
NETHERLANDS – The way to position investment policy amid historically low long-term interest rates has become a key question at Dutch pension funds, IPE has learnt.
-
News
Universal unveils CTA for pensions
GERMANY - German fund administrator Universal-Investment plans to introduce contractual trust arrangements, which let firms create an external fund to finance their pension liabilities.
-
News
Germany plans boost to Pensionsfonds system
GERMANY - The German government intends to radically boost the competitiveness of Pensionsfonds, the equity-oriented corporate pensions vehicle created in 2001, according to a senior official in the social affairs ministry.
-
News
Head of underperforming AP4 gets pay cut
SWEDEN – The president of the SEK151.4bn (€16.7bn) Swedish buffer fund AP4 – which underperformed its benchmark by three points in 2004 – has had his pay cut by almost five percent.
-
News
Italy’s Cooperlavoro seeks managers after revamp
ITALY - The €64m Cooperlavoro is looking for up to six asset managers after a switch from a single- portfolio to a three-portfolio investment strategy.
-
News
No reason to relax for Swiss funds - report
SWITZERLAND - Swiss pension funds, with a "barely acceptable" 4.2% return in 2004, have no reason to relax, according to the Swiss pension fund association (ASIP) and Watson Wyatt.
-
News
IAPF chairman Ryan leaves Eircom
IRELAND - Gerry Ryan, the chairman of the Irish Association of Pension Funds, has left his position as pension fund administrator at Dublin-based corporate pension fund Eircom.
-
News
‘Convexity’ key as Dutch schemes buy long bonds
NETHERLANDS – Convexity, or the sensitivity of bonds to interest rates, is an important factor as Dutch pension schemes move into longer dated bonds amid the new FTK regulations – according to a market analysis firm.
-
News
Danish party calls for SP payments to end
DENMARK - Denmark’s right-wing populist Dansk Folkeparti has called for an end to payments into the special pension arrangement, the Særlige Pensions ordning (SP).
-
News
Ousted Babcock CEO ‘misrepresented assets’
GERMANY - The surprise dismissal of Günter Schulze as chief executive of Babcock Pensionskasse followed his misrepresentation of the pension fund’s investments, sources say.
-
News
IPE-QUEST: Swiss foundation tenders €76.1m
SWITZERLAND – A Swiss foundation has tendered a global emerging markets brief worth up to $100m (€76.1m) through IPE-Quest.
