All articles by Jan Wagner
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News
BaFin president to lose power in leadership revamp
[12:30 CEST 20-09] GERMANY – Jochen Sanio, president of German financial regulator BaFin, is to lose authority as the government has approved a new leadership structure for the agency.
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News
Call for Pensionsfonds' liberalisation
[15:00 CEST 18-09] GERMANY – Germany’s pensions and insurance industry is lobbying the government to either drop or relax a rule requiring equity-oriented pension funds (Pensionsfonds) be at least 95% funded all of the time.
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News
German government sweetens Riester pension
[17:00 CEST 17-09] GERMANY – The German government will provide additional financial incentives to the so-called “Riester-Rente” from next year, a subsidised third-pillar pension rolled out in early 2002.
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News
Grancio to head Indexchange as Fehrenbach resigns
[16:50 CEST 17-09] GERMANY – Andreas Fehrenbach, chief executive of Indexchange, is resigning after just one year in his post.
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News
Swiss SME scheme reports huge 1H gains
[15:00 CEST 14-09] SWITZERLAND – Pensionskasse Pro, a pension fund targeted at small- to midsize enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland, has reported huge gains in assets and the number of firms insured for the first half of 2007.
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News
DekaBank to launch ETFs for German institutions
[13:00 CEST 13/09] GERMANY – DekaBank, the asset manager for German savings banks (Sparkassen), plans to roll out exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for German institutional investors in the first quarter of 2008. The launch is subject to regulatory approval.
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News
German state pension "showing signs of strength"
GERMANY – Germany’s state pension scheme is showing signs of renewed strength as the ‘so-called’ sustainable reserve is almost three times the legal minimum and the scheme is expected to have a surplus for the full year, pension experts say.
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News
Pensions insurance vehicle hit by lawsuit
[14:00 CEST 11-09] GERMANY – The Pensions-Sicherungs-Verein (PSV), an association that insures corporate pensions against insolvency, is being sued by some of its employer-members over costs related to its shift from a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) financing model to a capital-backed one.
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News
Constitutional Court approves pensions freeze
[15:30 CEST 10-09] GERMANY – Germany’s Constitutional Court has upheld the government’s legal right to freeze state pension benefits for budget reasons and thrown out a lawsuit seeking compensation for earlier freezes.
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News
E.ON pension scheme moves into hedge funds
[14:00 CEST 07-09] GERMANY – A €5.4bn pension fund for German energy giant E.ON has begun making its first investment in hedge funds, employing both single and fund-of-fund vehicles, market sources have told IPE.
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News
Switzerland paves way for Publica’s DC switch
SWITZERLAND – The Swiss government has sanctioned the inclusion of 105 employers into Publica, the CHF33bn (€20bn) pension fund for federal employees - clearing the way for the scheme’s switch from defined benefit to defined contribution next year.
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News
Switzerland to raise pension savings interest rate
[13:10 CEST 05-09] SWITZERLAND – The Swiss government is raising the minimum rate pension funds must credit to paid-in savings to 2.75% from January 1, amid evidence suggesting schemes are earning more on financial markets.
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Features
BVK leads the way on diversification
The greatest prize for a German asset manager is a mandate from BVK, not necessarily for the fees but the influence it can bring. Jan Wagner asked its chief investment officer Daniel Just how it makes this financial clout work for itself
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News
Partners Group posts 27% rise in AuM
[16:15 CEST 04-09] SWITZERLAND – Partners Group, a Swiss asset manager specialising in alternatives, has reported a 27% increase in assets under management (AuM) and a 69% jump in pre-tax profit for the first half.
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News
AVH return slimmed on bond weakness
[16:15 CEST 03-09] GERMANY – Apothekerversorungswerk Hessen (AVH), a €900m pension fund for pharmacists in the state of Hessen, says underperformance of its fixed income investments was to blame for a decline in its return last year.
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News
BPK to increase equity exposure
[15:00 CEST 31-08] SWITZERLAND – Bernische Pensionskasse (BPK), a CHF8.7bn (€5.3bn) pension fund for Swiss civil servants, will invest more of its assets in equities – particularly overseas stocks – and cut its fixed income exposure from November 1.
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News
Austrian schemes predict positive returns despite market upset
[16:00 CEST 30-08] AUSTRIA – Austrian pension schemes should end the year with a "very positive" return despite market turbulence caused by the US sub-prime crisis, according to the FVPK, the pension schemes’ association.
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News
BVV expected to hire hedge fund consultant
[17:00 CEST 29-08] GERMANY – BVV, an €18.6bn pension fund for the German financial industry, is believed to be looking to hire a consultant to advise on future investment in hedge funds.
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News
Indictments handed down in Fribourg pensions scandal
[14:30 CEST 28-08] SWITZERLAND – A magistrate investigating the past financial woes of the city of Fribourg’s pension fund has indicted the city’s treasurer and three other treasury employees, accusing them of falsifying accounting documents.
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News
AGI to sell majority stake in German fund administrator
[12:30 CEST 23-08] GERMANY – Allianz Global Investors (AGI) has agreed to sell a 51% stake in fund administration arm Fonds Depotbank to UK securities clearer Xchanging, for an undisclosed sum.
