Pension scheme consultancy Watson Wyatt has warned pension schemes to take care when putting money into computer-driven quantitative investment products, particularly hedge funds. In a circular to clients, Watson Wyatt said: “We remain cautious on the outlook for quantitative managers given the strong tailwind many experienced and we are nervous about all the 130/30 hedge fund products being launched.”
International
Grenzgänger-Info Nr. 7
Die Interessengemeinschaft Schweizer Pensionskassen (in Schweizer Pensionskassen versicherte Grenzgänger aus Deutschland) haben für 20.2.08 in Weil am Rhein eine Informationsveranstaltung angekündigt. Bei dieser Gelegenheit soll über den Stand laufender Gerichtsverfahren informiert werden. In der Mitteilung wird auch über den neuen Rechtsanspruch auf amtliche Informationen berichtet. Schliesslich wird auf einen Beitrag zum Thema «Arbeiten in der Schweiz – wohnen in Deutschland» verwiesen.
Grenzgängerinformationen Nr. 7
Österreich: Ertragseinbruch bei den Pensionskassen
Mit zwei Prozent Ertrag für 2007 liegen die Pensionskassen Oesterreichs deutlich unter dem Durchschnitt der letzten fünf Jahre. Schuld daran sind die Turbulenzen an den weltweiten Finanzmärkten, sagt Christian Böhm vom Fachverband der Pensionskassen.
oe1.ORF.at / Ertrag der Pensionskassen 2007 gesunken
UK: Pension fund returns hit five-year low
Returns on pension savings hit a five-year low last year, research shows. The average pension fund posted growth of just 5.41 percent during 2007 — the poorest performance since 2002 when the bear market led to average losses of 15.2 percent, according to Investment Life & Pensions Moneyfacts.
Pension fund returns hit five-year low | Reuters
UK: Pension deficits treble in a month
The aggregate deficit of UK occupational pension funds, as measured by the Pension Protection Fund, more than trebled in December compared with November in spite of stronger equities markets, underscoring the sensitivity of retirement funds to adverse movements in interest rates.
FT.com / Companies / Pension deficits treble in a month
UK: Pension Funds with a return of 6,8% in 2007
The average UK pension fund achieved a return of 6.8% last year helped by soaring Asian and emerging equity markets. But most final salary pension schemes are still continuing to move assets into lower-risk bonds and alternative asset classes as they seek to lock in recent gains. The performance estimates, compiled by pension administration company BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, mean that pension funds have recorded their fifth consecutive calendar year of positive returns following the post-millennium bear market.
Pension Funds Buoyed By Emerging Markets (from The Herald )
Israel: Pension pact promises some security for 1 million workers
An agreement to be signed today will require all employers to deposit money into pension funds for their employees. The mandatory pension pact will provide retirement savings for one million employees. Employers will pay an amount equal to 10 percent of their salary costs into a pension fund, with every worker paying 5 percent into the fund.
Haaretz – Israel News
Calpers fires HSBC broadside
CALPERS, the American pension fund, has raised the pressure on HSBC, the world’s third-biggest bank, setting its management team a six-month deadline to outline plans for radical change.
Calpers fires HSBC broadside – Times Online
CalPERS to shift $44 billion
CalPERS’ new asset allocation will shift some $44 billion, or nearly 18% of the total portfolio, into international equity and alternative strategies. The changes represent the most significant policy shift over the past 10 years.
CalPERS to shift $44 billion – Pensions & Investments
Li: Fusion von Sela und Sozialfonds
Die Fusion der Stiftungen Sozialfonds und SELA ist abgeschlossen. Es entstand die Firma «Sozialfonds» – die grösste Pensionskasse Liechtensteins.
Liechtensteiner Vaterland / Sela
Watson Wyatt: Pension funds unable to dodge falling debris
The credit squeeze is having unforeseen consequences for the UK and European pensions industry. Watson Wyatt is warning the crisis is delaying execution of derivatives-based liability hedging strategies. These are increasingly used by pension funds to extend duration of their liability matching portfolios in place of bonds and other fixed-interest securities.
FT.com / Home UK / UK – Pension funds unable to dodge falling debris
Pension Funds Had Banner Year, Watson Wyatt’s Pension Risk Index Finds
With pension funds making significant gains, fewer large employers face high degrees of financial risk because of pension liabilities, according to a Watson Wyatt analysis of FORTUNE 1000 companies that sponsored defined benefit pension plans in 2006. Despite recent market volatility in asset values and discount rates, pension funds are expected to again fare well when final 2007 numbers are known.
Watson Wyatt United States – News | Press Releases
NAPF erneuert seine Corporate Governance Richtlinien
At the British Association of Pension Funds’ (NAPF) Annual Corporate Governance Seminar, the organisation launched its updated Corporate Governance Policy and Voting Guidelines. These include for the first time, high level guidance on environmental, social and governance issues, and guidance on markets outside the UK in recognition of their growing importance to pension funds
and investors more generally. The guidelines are designed to assist shareholders and others in interpreting the Combined Code when considering voting decisions at company meetings. These
guidelines replace those produced by the NAPF in 2004.
NAPF News Index / Coporate Governance Guidelines
NAPF welcomes European report on funding rules for funding schemes
At the 2007 European Federation for Retirement Provision’s (EFRP1) Congress in Frankfurt, the EFRP published its view on applying the EU solvency rules used for insurance companies (known as Solvency 2) to pension schemes. The paper1 outlines why the same funding rules for insurance companies should not be applied to pension schemes. The National Association of Pensions Funds’ (NAPF) Director of Policy, Nigel Peaple, said: “The NAPF fully supports the view that it would not make sense simply to copy insurance regulation and apply it to pension funds.
NAPF welcomes European report on funding rules for funding schemes / EFRP / Press Release / Press Release on IORP Directive
CalPERS: Morality deficit plagues pension fund
For most of the last decade, the California Public Employees Retirement System was the world leader in financial morality, refusing to invest in countries where slave labor is the norm, where there is no freedom of speech or press and where there are no free market policies. As the largest pension fund in the world with more than $240billion in assets and cash constantly flowing in for new investing, CalPERS has managed to influence the laws and societies of many countries. The Philippines is one example of a nation that adapted its labor laws to fit within CalPERS guidelines. Until this fall.