All IPE articles in July 2008 (Online)
View all stories from this issue.
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NewsFSA tells insurers to speed up annuity transfers
[16:45 CEST 31-07] UK – The UK’s financial services regulator, the Financial Services Authority has revealed the process of transferring pensions annuity cases between at insurance companies is being delayed in over 60% of cases in part because participants are confused by the forms to be completed.
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Fiduciary trend boosts compliance monitoring demand
[16:30 CEST 31-07] NETHERLANDS – The growing trend towards fiduciary management in the Netherlands has led to increased demand among pension fund trustees for the monitoring of manager performance, according to asset servicing firm Northern Trust.
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Telegraph opts for bulk buyout as prices begin to rise
[16:15 CEST 31-07] UK – The Telegraph Media Group, publisher of UK broadsheet the Telegraph, has tapped Legal & General to buy out £12m of its defined benefit staff pension plan liabilities.
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Slovak pension returns drop just 0.7% in H1
[16:00 CEST 31-07] SLOVAKIA – Slovak pension funds suffered less from the ravages of the financial markets in the first half of 2008 than their European peers thanks to their very conservative asset allocation.
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PMA keeps cover ratio to 185%
[15:45 CEST 31-07] NETHERLANDS - The €1.1bn pension fund for pharmacies’ staff PMA has managed to maintain a cover ratio of approximately 185%, despite experiencing a 23 percentage point drop in the first half of 2008.
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Dutch institutions too relaxed in tackling fraud - FEC
[15:15 CEST 31-07] NETHERLANDS – Financial institutions and service providers do too little to tackle fraudulent real estate transactions in the Netherlands, an official analysis of criminal and supervisory investigations has found.
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UK business warns of pensions retreat to MFR
[15:00 CEST 31-07] UK – Business leaders have warned increasing regulatory pressure on the UK defined benefit pensions market could force a slide back towards the application of a Minimum Funding Requirement.
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LPFA commits to ING’s global real estate FoF
[16:10 CEST 30-07] UK - The London Pension Fund Authority has committed £150m (€190m) of capital to a new global property fund of funds (FoF) launched this week by ING Real Estate Select.
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UK solvency ratios worst hit by credit crunch
[16:00 CEST 30-07] EUROPE – UK pension funds saw the steepest decline in solvency ratios in the first half of 2008 thanks to falling asset values and rising inflation, according to Lehman Brothers.
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Allianz mulls pan-European pension fund
[16:00 CEST 30-07] GERMANY – The insurance group Allianz is considering rolling out a pan-European pension fund but regulations could yet hinder the project.
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Flynn to share BoI pensions experience
[15:00 CEST 30-07] IRELAND – Frank Flynn, former head of group pensions at the Bank of Ireland, has opened a pension consultancy business to share his expertise with businesses and pension funds reviewing their pensions strategies and governance.
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£1.2bn Trafalgar House fund replaces Hewitt (amended)
[15:00 CEST 30-07] UK - The £1.2bn (€1.5bn) pension fund of the former UK property conglomerate Trafalgar House has appointed Dutch consultant Cardano as its new investment adviser, replacing Hewitt.
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NU nets half its missing trawlermen members
[14:15 CEST 30-07] UK – UK life insurance firm Norwich Union is still attempting to track down over 6,000 people who were thought to be members of the UK trawlermen defined benefit (DB) pension schemes, after it was found some members had never received payouts.
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Wednesday people roundup
[13:00 CEST 30-07] GLOBAL: People roundup – Threadneedle Asset Management, Pioneer, Aegon, Bfinance, Mercer, AXA IM, BNP Paribas.
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Employer pain warning on Dutch executive pensions tax
[11:00 CEST 30-07] NETHERLANDS – Employers with businesses in the Netherlands might need to adjust their executive pension arrangements if Dutch lawmakers approve additional tax restrictions backed by the government, Towers Perrin has warned.
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O'Brien warns ASB plans may 'hasten' DB closures
[17:00 CEST 29-07] UK – Mike O'Brien, the UK minister for pensions reform, has expressed concerns that the changes to financial reporting of pensions proposed by the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) could "hasten" the closure of defined benefit (DB) schemes.
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Danish LD fund reduces equities by DKK1.7bn
[16:50 CEST 29-07] DENMARK – The DKK62.8bn (€8,4bn) Lønmodtagernes Dyrtidsfond (LD) reduced the equity exposure in its main investment fund by almost DKK1.7bn last year, in an effort to limit risk.
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Changes at the top for Hewitt’s consultancy
[16:45 CEST 29-07] GLOBAL – Perry Brandorff and Roger Parkin are stepping down from their roles as heads of Hewitt Associates’ global and European consulting businesses, after over 25 years with the firm.
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Regulators should aid pension consolidation – OECD
[16:40 CEST 29-07] GLOBAL – Regulators should promote pensions consolidation as small pensions funds are handicapped when it comes to setting up internal governance, a new working paper by the OECD argues.
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ABP joint venture spends €2.7bn in shopping spree
[16:00 CEST 29-07] NETHERLANDS – The €205bn Dutch pension fund ABP today revealed it now owns Scandinavia’s largest shopping centre owner and developer, Steen & Strøm, after buying the firm in a joint venture for NOK21.9bn (€2.7bn).
