MARKETS -
Feb 22, 2012
Investors Increasingly Going for Gold
22 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - A bleak economic picture across Europe has helped push demand for gold, according to Angelos Damaskos, CEO, Sector Investment Managers and Fund Advisor, Junior Gold Fund.
FINANCE -
Feb 22, 2012
Erste Group to Close Hungarian Mandatory Pension Fund Arm
22 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Erste Group Bank, the second-largest bank in Hungary, is to propose to shareholders the winding up of its private pension fund business, according to reports.
FINANCE -
Feb 22, 2012
Ford Targets Fixed Income to Reduce Pension Asset Volatility
22 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Ford in the UK is targeting fixed income asset allocation to help minimise volatility of the value of its pension assets to pension liabilities and to ensure assets can pay plan benefits, according to the car giant’s annual report.
PRODUCTS -
Feb 22, 2012
SCM Private and db X-trackers Launch Multi-Asset ETF
22 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Investment manager SCM Private and db X-trackers, Deutsche Bank’s exchange-traded funds (ETF) platform have partnered to launch a multi-asset ETF.
FINANCE -
Feb 22, 2012
Target Total Outcome Over Individual Strategies or Asset Classes
22 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Managing for a total outcome rather than focusing on the returns of individual strategies or asset classes is key to solving the risk/reward dilemma faced by many underfunded pension funds, according to State Street Global Advisors (SSgA).
HR/BENEFITS -
Feb 21, 2012
Workfare Cases Dependent on Worker Definition
21 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Legal cases against the UK government brought by people on benefits required to take unpaid work will rest on arriving at the correct definition of a worker, according to Esther Smith, Employment Partner at law firm Thomas Eggar.
RULES/REGS -
Feb 21, 2012
Greece Commits to Pension Pact Proposals
21 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - The European Commission has confirmed to PLANSPONSOR Europe that Greece has committed to pension changes which include reform of supplementary pension funds.
PRODUCTS -
Feb 21, 2012
PRUPIM Aims to Counter Real Estate Investor Confusion
21 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Real Estate fund manager PRUPIM is working on creating investor relevant metrics to counter investor confusion over metrics and measures of sustainable property investment.
RULES/REGS -
Feb 21, 2012
UK Pensions Schemes to Resist Income Withdrawal
21 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) -Most UK pension schemes are likely to resist introducing income withdrawal, according to law firm Norton Rose.
HR/BENEFITS -
Feb 20, 2012
UNISON Joins High Court Pensions Appeal
20 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - UK union UNISON has joined a group of unions appealing to the High Court over which measure of inflation is used to calculate annual pension increases.
FINANCE -
Feb 20, 2012
Forsta AP-fonden Reports Understandable Fall in Returns
20 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Sweden’s Första AP-fonden says its return after expenses for 2011 of -1.9% is “understandable” given the turmoil in financial markets last year.
PEOPLE -
Feb 20, 2012
LCP Hires Wendy Hawes
20 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Senior FSA general insurance actuary Wendy Hawes has joined LCP as a Principal in its Insurance Consulting practice.
PRODUCTS -
Feb 20, 2012
AXA Wealth to Launch AXA Self Investor
20 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - AXA Wealth is to launch direct platform AXA Self Investor.
MARKETS -
Feb 20, 2012
Deutsche Bank Agrees 12bn Euro Longevity Swap with AEGON
20 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Deutsche Bank has agreed a 12bn euro longevity swap with AEGON.
RULES/REGS -
Feb 20, 2012
Banks Increasingly Using Clause to Trigger Defaults
20 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Banks are increasingly making use of a clause in syndicated corporate loan agreements that trigger an automatic default by the borrower if it acquires any company with a defined-benefit pension scheme, legal advisers have warned, according to reports.
FINANCE -
Feb 20, 2012
Dutch Firms Faced With Cutting Pension Pay Outs Revealed
20 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - The pension funds of Randstad, ABP and Thales are among those that will have to cut pay-outs from April 2013, unless the economy in the Netherlands improves, the Dutch Pensions Federation has warned.
FINANCE -
Feb 20, 2012
Discretionary Means Discretionary Says Heineken
20 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Heineken has told PLANSPONSOR Europe that discretionary means discretionary with regards to pensions in its dispute with Scottish & Newcastle pensioners following the beer company’s takeover of the firm.
FINANCE -
Feb 20, 2012
Dutch Firms Reluctant To Bolster Pension Funds
20 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) -Dutch firms are reluctant to bolster pension funds if there is a risk pay-outs need to be cut, according to reports.
FINANCE -
Feb 17, 2012
Need for Infrastructure Investment Will Remain Despite Ratings Downgrade
17 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - The UK’s requirement for investment in infrastructure will remain regardless of Moody’s downgrade of Network Rail Infrastructure Finance and LCR Finance, Jeremy Lee, Director of investment consulting at Redington, has told PLANSPONSOR Europe.
RULES/REGS -
Feb 17, 2012
Denmark Ahead of Schedule on Meeting White Paper Goals
17 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Denmark is ahead of schedule in meeting the goals of the EC’s Pensions White Paper but more needs to be done to create equality between pensions for men and women in the country, Sara Lochte, senior consultant at Danish pension fund association F&P, has told PLANSPONSOR Europe.