More comment – Page 50
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NewsThe difficulty of building an efficient pensions system
Sometimes it takes a downturn to tackle inefficiencies that go unnoticed when times are good.
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Opinion Pieces
EC backing for VC
Radical changes in opportunities to invest in venture capital (VC) are emerging via the EU, including in Brussels, where the European Parliament is now vetting a draft Regulation on European Venture Capital Funds. The package aims to make it easier for VC funds to raise capital from across the EU.
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Opinion Pieces
Politics of change
The nomination of Mitt Romney as the Republican candidate to the White House may bring a lot of attention to the US pension fund industry. If he wins the election on 6 November, he could introduce a partial privatisation of Social Security, the compulsory insurance programme funded through payroll taxes. The first president to talk about privatising it was also a Republican one, George W Bush, but his proposal went nowhere.
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Opinion Pieces
Jeroen Wilbrink & Jelle Beenen
In the Guest Viewpoint column of IPE March 2012, Kees Cools and Anton van Nunen claimed that the current calculation used in assessing the health of a pension scheme is incorrect. They also claimed it had forced pension schemes to sell ‘cheap’ equities in favour of ‘expensive’ sovereign bonds, and that this selling has depressed prices of equities.
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News
Are fiduciary consultants neglecting their duty on hedge funds?
The fiduciary model for hedge funds is not unlike a customised fund-of-funds mandate.
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NewsOTC derivatives and the law of unintended consequences
The more Brussels tries to reduce risk, the more it seems to grow, says Cecile Sourbes.
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NewsIreland's Social Welfare and Pensions Bill: A bridge too far?
'Incentivising' local pension funds to invest in sovereign bonds might not be the best idea.
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NewsCharities should take note of Royal Mail pensions precedent
Many may find themselves in very similar circumstances, says Spence & Partners.
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News
IPA: How long will Beijing's reformist reawakening last?
Has the Communist Party rediscovered radical change? Don’t get your hopes up just yet.
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NewsMartin Steward: Is equity really a 'stranded asset'?
Why it is more important to diversify savers' time horizons than to lengthen them.
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NewsTrustees: Where will the next generation come from?
The Australians have put their minds to a problem that will affect the pensions industry worldwide.
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NewsPensionsfonds, 10 years on
Germany's investment set-up is as infuriatingly complex to outsiders as the country's fiscal system.
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NewsESG idealism: The market is right to be suspicious
Osmosis's Gerrit Heyns wonders whether principles are needed to make responsible investments.
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Opinion Pieces
Funds join the fray
This proxy season in the US is likely to be highly politicised, with the public sector’s pension funds playing a big role. In fact, it will be a test for several rules introduced by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In addition, the 2012 presidential campaign is getting hotter, with the Republican candidates promising to repeal the Act, if elected. The Republicans already control the House of Representatives and might conquer the Senate, too. Moreover, if Barack Obama loses, the new Republican president will be able to nominate a new Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and the SEC will change from a Democratic majority to a 3-2 Republican majority.
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Opinion PiecesRonald Doeswijk & Laurens Swinkels, Robeco
To start this contribution on inflation, let’s open with some facts. First, central banks around the world tend to target inflation rates. In developed countries, an inflation target of 2% is not unusual. Second, since major central banks around the globe started to target inflation in the early 1980s, inflation has fallen from double-digit figures to low single digits. So, it is not that difficult to conclude that central banks’ targets are realistic and that there is hardly any reason for investors to worry about inflation in the medium term.
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NewsBenjie Fraser on the advent of super trusts
What's the difference between super-sizing and super trusts? Not much, says Benjie Fraser.
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NewsDutch pension funds: Big ain't so beautiful
Since 2007, the number of Dutch pension funds has declined by about a third.
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NewsThe euro-zone crisis: The more you struggle …
Remember Chinese finger traps from childhood? Europe is full of them, says Martin Steward.
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Opinion Pieces
Bankruptcy wave threat
A new wave of bankruptcies is set to put more pressure on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the US pension agency that insures pension benefits of private pension plans covering some 44m of America’s workers and retirees. For fiscal year 2011, the PBGC has already reported a record $26bn (€19.8bn) deficit – the largest in its 37-year history and $3bn more than the $23bn deficit reported the previous year.
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NewsA few rules of thumb for bond investors
M&G's David Lloyd questions the credibility of 'view-based' bond strategies.
