All articles by Julie Henderson – Page 22
-
NewsSwiss funding levels deteriorate in three months
[16:00 CEST 07-04] SWITZERLAND – Six out of 10 second pillar Swiss pension funds are now underfunded, and at least a third have less than 90% of the assets to meet their funding requirements.
-
News
Fully-hedged liabilities double for FTSE pensions
[16:25 CEST 06-04] UK – The true value of the estimated UK pension fund deficit for the top 100 listed companies would have almost doubled over the course of the year to £245bn (€270bn) had all liabilities been hedged, suggest figures from consulting firm Redington Partners.
-
NewsPPF considers shift in levy payment strategy
[16:20 CEST 06-04] UK – Pension Protection Fund executives are discussing a series of potential changes to the funding of the pensions lifeboat which could eventually see employers contribute higher levy sums during positive economic cycles but make lower payments during times of recession and market downturn.
-
News
Swiss pension fund eyes real estate
[16:25 CEST 03-04] IPE-QUEST – A Swiss corporate pension fund is looking for a manager with experience of investing in the real estate markets to take care of a $70m (€52m) pan-European real estate fund-of-funds mandate, using IPE-Quest.
-
News
KPN to plug €390m pension funding gap
[16:15 CEST 03-04] NETHERLANDS – KPN, the Dutch telecommunications giant, is planning to contribute another €390m to its pension fund over the next five years, in a bid to raise its funding level to 105%.
-
News
Swiss pension pursues European equity (amended)
[16:55 CEST 02-04] IPE-QUEST – A Swiss pension fund is looking to hire a manager for a $40m (€29.9m) global equity mandate, using IPE-Quest.
-
News
Market losses lower FRR mandate wins
[16:00 CEST 02-04] FRANCE – FRR, the €27.7bn French national pension fund, is dividing two equities mandates between a total of seven investment managers, albeit the sum invested is now smaller than originally advertised thanks to the impact of recent market falls.
-
News
Sponsor threatens pensions withdrawal at LDI pioneer
[15:30 CEST 02-04] NETHERLANDS – Super de Boer, the employer sponsor behind the Super de Boer pension fund, will withdraw its support from the scheme from 1 January 2010 under the current terms, unless all parties involved can agree a funding recovery plan that the employer is happy with.
-
News
PFA buys Nordic AM following positive gains
[16:15 CEST 01-04] DENMARK – PFA Pension, the Danish life and pensions provider, managed to generate a return on investments of DKK3.5bn (€460m) in 2008 thanks to a major shift towards fixed income holdings, and is now using some of its assets to buy Nordic Asset Management.
-
News
PMT ups contributions to tackle shortfall
[15:30 CEST 01-04] NETHERLANDS – PMT, the €28bn industry-wide pension fund for Dutch metal workers and technicians, has decided to maintain its current asset allocation strategy but increase the contributions required in a bid to pull back its funding position.
-
Country Report
Funding in a changed world
Liam Kennedy assesses the measures German companies are taking to address pension funding issues and future plan design
-
News
AMF's problems grow over executive pensions
[16:30 CEST 30-03] SWEDEN – The board of AMF Pension, the Swedish pensions provider, claims it has been misled about the size of the pension its former chief executive Christer Elmehagen should have received and is demanding over SEK24m (€2.18m) be repaid to the firm.
-
News
PME backtracks on plan to cut benefits
[16:00 CEST 30-03] NETHERLANDS – PME, the €18.7bn industry-wide pension fund for metal workers, has decided it will not cut pensioner benefits as part of its proposals to improve the underfunded pension plan but it will freeze benefits paid and the contributions required for the next five years.
-
News
Credit Suisse challenges M&S’s pensions calculations
[11:00 CET 27-03] UK – Marks & Spencer, the high street chain, is likely to face higher than anticipated pensions liabilities at its next triennial review, according to an analyst at Credit Suisse, as the calculations the firm used to establish its discount rate is substantially higher than its peers ...
-
News
PfZW and AP4 sue BoA over Merrill disclosure
[16:00 CET 26-03] GLOBAL – Dutch industry-wide pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PfZW) has teamed up with four other schemes, including Sweden’s fourth buffer fund, AP4, to sue Bank of America for compensation over apparent non-disclosures relating to the purchase of Merrill Lynch.
-
News
Man sees outflows despite AHL gains
[15:15 CET 26-03] GLOBAL – Man Investments, the UK-based hedge fund manager, has predicted its assets under management fell by 36% in the year to the end of March 2009, through a mixture of institutional outflows and losses on investments and currency fluctuations.
-
Features
Most returns firmly in the red
The continuing downward trend of pension fund solvency levels means even those funds which came even close to zero return could see their asset allocation scrutinised by colleagues.
-
News
Unilever's Progress sees returns plummet 26%
[16:30 CET 25-03] NETHERLANDS – Progress, the Dutch pension fund of household goods giant Unilever, saw the value of its assets drop by almost €1.2bn or 26% in 2008, as its investment strategy struggled to cope in turbulent markets.
-
News
Aon and Russell link for fudiciary management
[17:10 CET 24-03] EUROPE – Aon Consulting and multi-manager investment house Russell Investments are teaming up from July this year to deliver pension funds a full fiduciary management service.
-
News
Northern Trust scales down MoM operations
[16:10 CET 24-03] GLOBAL – Northern Trust is closing its London-based manager-of-managers (MoM) research team and transferring the duties to its Stamford research team in the US.
