Returns – Page 174

  • News

    Interest rate hedge doubles PME’s loss

    2009-04-24T14:00:00Z

    [15:00 CEST 24-04] NETHERLANDS – PME, the industry-wide pension fund for Dutch metalworkers electricians, saw its assets under management fall by 1.4% in the first three months of this year as an earlier move to protect the fund against falling interest rates instead damaged its returns.

  • News

    Irish gov't urged to extend Pension Board powers

    2009-04-24T13:30:00Z

    [14:30 CEST 24-04] IRELAND – The Pensions Board should have similar powers to the UK Pensions Regulator allowing it to force solvent companies to address pension deficits before the firm is sold, the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) has claimed.

  • News

    Bulk of Swiss schemes now underfunded

    2009-04-24T13:00:00Z

    [14:00 CEST 24-04] SWITZERLAND – The number of underfunded Swiss Pensionskassen has increased considerably in the first quarter with 74,3% now being below the full funding level.

  • News

    Positive Q1 boosts Varma value

    2009-04-24T12:30:00Z

    [13:30 CESt 24-04] FINLAND – Varma Mutual Pension Insurance company has reported a positive first quarter performance of 0.3%, although its rival Eläke-Fennia produced a slightly poorer result of -0.2%.

  • News

    Equity bounce limited PfZW and PMT falls

    2009-04-23T15:15:00Z

    [16:15 CEST 23-04] NETHERLANDS – PfZW and PMT, the giant industry-wide pension funds for healthcare and metal industry workers, suffered losses of over 4% in the first quarter of this year, despite a slight recovery in equity markets last month.

  • News

    AP1 revises ownership policy over gov't guidelines

    2009-04-23T14:45:00Z

    [15:45 CEST 23-04] SWEDEN - Första AP-fonden (AP1) is planning to abstain from voting on remuneration issues for senior executives of companies it is invested in, until a decision on a revised ownership policy has been made following new government guidelines.

  • News

    Ilmarinen sees positive results in Q1

    2009-04-23T13:00:00Z

    [14:00 CEST 23-04] FINLAND – Ilmarinen Mutual Insurance Company has reported a positive first quarter return of 0.2%, as fixed income investments performed well.

  • News

    SHPS extends benefit options as deficit passes £600m

    2009-04-23T12:00:00Z

    [13:00 CEST 23-04] UK – The Social Housing Pension Scheme (SHPS) is to offer a defined contribution (DC) option to employers for the first time after the latest valuation revealed its deficit had increased to £633m (€715m) at the end of September 2008, from £209m the previous year.

  • News

    Germans prepare for lower pension

    2009-04-22T15:45:00Z

    [16:45 CEST 22-04] GERMANY – The number of Germans who think they will have to cut expenses at retirement is on the rise, while fewer people are willing to save privately for their pension, research has suggested.

  • News

    Hoogovens' recovery enacted despite hedge

    2009-04-22T15:30:00Z

    [16:30 CEST 22-04] NETHERLANDS - Falling interest rates as well as an negative returns on equities caused the cover ratio of Stichting Pensioenfonds Hoogovens to fall from 135.8% in 2007 to 105.5% a year later, even though the scheme had applied a sizeable interest rate hedge.

  • News

    Railways scheme's buffers hit by losses

    2009-04-22T15:10:00Z

    [16:10 CEST 22-04] NETHERLANDS - SPF, the large pension fund for the railways sector, lost 19.2% on investments last year, while its assets dropped from €12bn to €9.5bn and the cover fell to 121%.

  • News

    UK Budget cuts higher rate tax relief (updated)

    2009-04-22T13:25:00Z

    [14:25 CEST 22-04] UK – Alistair Darling, chancellor of the Exchequer, has confirmed tax relief on pension contributions for high earners will be reduced from 40% to 20% from April 2011.

  • News

    BPF Bouw is confident of recovery

    2009-04-22T13:00:00Z

    [14:00 CEST 22-04] NETHERLANDS - BPF Bouw, the €24.2bn scheme for the building industry, expects to eliminate its funding shortfall within three years by raising contributions and halting indexation.

  • News

    Reed Elsevier boosts its pension fund coffers

    2009-04-21T15:50:00Z

    [16:50 CEST 21-04] NETHERLANDS – Publishing house Reed Elsevier will pay €54m into its pension fund over the coming five years, to support measures taken to restore the funding shortfall of the scheme.

  • News

    Publica loses another 1.43%

    2009-04-21T15:35:00Z

    [16:35 CEST 21-04] SWITZERLAND – The Swiss Pensionskasse for civil servants Publica returned -1.43% in the first three months of this year.

  • News

    SHPS to review benefits in light of valuation

    2009-04-21T15:20:00Z

    [16:20 CEST 21-04] UK – The Social Housing Pension Scheme (SHPS) is to consult with members about possible new benefit options and contribution rates later this year as it expects the actuarial valuation will reveal increased costs.

  • News

    IBOA members reject AIB pension plans

    2009-04-21T15:15:00Z

    [16:15 CEST 21-04] IRELAND – Negotiations between AIB Group and the Irish Banking Officials Association (IBOA) are being referred to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) after members voted to reject the bank's proposals on pay and pensions.

  • News

    Norway Global sees value increase in March

    2009-04-20T16:15:00Z

    [17:15 CEST 20-04] NORWAY – The Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global increased in value to NOK 2.08trn (€236.4bn) in March, following two consecutive months of decline.

  • News

    SIPTU threatens strikes in call for new pension system

    2009-04-20T15:50:00Z

    [16:50 CEST 20-04] IRELAND – SIPTU, the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union, has warned discussions with the government on a national recovery plan will need to address the issue of workers in occupational schemes losing their pension through company insolvency, or any lack of agreement could lead to fresh ...

  • News

    Swedish pension firms underestimate life expectancy

    2009-04-17T15:50:00Z

    [16:50 CEST 17-04] SWEDEN – An annual review of the technical provisions of 17 pension and life insurers by pensions regulator Finansinspektionen (FI) has revealed they suffered a deficit of more than SEK 17bn (€1.55bn) at their peak, although SEK15bn of this had been recouped by the end of 2008.