Articles by Jaishree Kalia
Russell launches Aussie after-tax fund
AUSTRALIA - Russell Investments has launched its first after-tax fund to maximise returns for superannuation investors.
Irish QIFs totalled €153bn
IRELAND - Qualifying Investor Funds (QIFs) increased by 35% to €153bn ($209bn) during 2010, figures from Central Bank of Ireland reveal.
NZ Super rises at the end of 2010
NEW ZEALAND - The New Zealand Superannuation Fund returned 4.42% in December 2010, up from -0.38% in the previous month, due to an increase in global equities.
Hong Kong's MPF has not encouraged additional savings
HONG KONG - The Mandatory Provident Fund has failed in its task to encourage additional savings, but pending legislation to encourage members to move their assets into other savings vehicles will do just that, said RCM.
Australian Treasury looks to ID A$18.8bn in lost accounts
AUSTRALIA - The Australian Government has proposed super funds use tax file numbers (TFNs) to identify members' accounts to help recover the ‘lost' A$18.8bn ($19bn) in superannuation assets.
Monday Movers
Towers Watson; EIOPA; ATP; State Street; Janus Capital Group Inc; Transamerica Retirement Services; Mercer; T. Rowe Price; QIC
Towers Watson appoints investment heads in the Americas
US - Towers Watson has named six investment heads, including one to the new position of head of strategy for North America.
CalPERS requests majority vote for Apple directors
US - The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) is seeking shareowner support for its proposal to have unopposed candidates to Apple's board be elected by a majority vote.
Russell Investments launches "stability" indexes
GLOBAL - Russell Investments has launched the Russell Stability Indexes which divide securities according to volatility and quality.
Sunsuper acquires its fifth property
AUSTRALIA - Pension fund Sunsuper has acquired the Melbourne central business district (CBD) office property for AU$107m ($108.3m), the fifth in its direct property portfolio.
NZ Super kicks off rural land startegy
NEW ZEALAND - The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation have appointed FarmRight as the first investment manager in its rural land strategy and acquired its first dairy property in West Otago.
Irish domiciled funds totalled €963bn
IRELAND - Irish domiciled funds reached €963bn ($1.3trn) in net asset value at the end of 2010, up nearly a third from €748bn in 2009, said the Irish Funds Industry Association (IFIA).
State Street expands global transition team
US/ASIA - State Street Global Markets has appointed four senior transition managers for its global portfolio solutions groups in the US, Australia and Japan.
Aviva appoints Asia investment heads
ASIA - Aviva Investors has appointed Kevin Talbot as chief investment officer (CIO) of fixed income and Manish Singhai CIO of equities in Asia.
Irish funds start the year at a standstill
IRELAND - Irish pension fund returns remained flat in January 2011, research by Aon Hewitt shows.
Mercer makes leadership changes to Italy business
ITALY - Mercer has strengthened its management team in Italy with four internal appointments.
CRF deals total $145m in November
US - The New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF) closed four transactions worth $145.4m in November, latest figures show.
Taiwan fund appoints Russell as transition manager
TAIWAN - The Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF) has appointed Russell Investments as transition manager in what is thought to be the first mandate win of its kind in the country.
Monday Movers
BT Pension Scheme; Robeco; INTECH Investment Management; PwC; Mercer; Aon Hewitt; Neuberger Berman Group; Standard Life Investments; State Street Global Services
PFZW coverage ratio hits 104%
NETHERLANDS - Dutch pension fund Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn saw its (PFZW) coverage ratio rise to 104% at the end of Q4, six percentage points higher than the previous quarter.
Denmark plans pension reform to boost finances
DENMARK - The Danish government has proposed to phase out the nation's early retirement scheme to save DKK18bn ($3.3bn) by 2020.
EU Solvency II proposals to hamper real estate investments
Plans by the European Union to introduce Solvency II- type regulations to the pensions industry could hinder investments in real estate, delegates at the European Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles seminar heard.
EU Solvency II proposals to hamper real estate investments
EUROPE - Plans by the European Union to introduce Solvency II- type regulations to the pensions industry could hinder investments in real estate, delegates at the European Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles (INREV) seminar heard....
ABP coverage ratio hits 105%
NETHERLANDS - The coverage ratio for pension fund ABP hit 105% at the end of 2010, surpassing its target for the year.
Robeco appoints CFO
NETHERLANDS - Asset manager Robeco has named Jurgen Stegmann as chief financial officer.
Aon Hewitt appoint Ireland directors
IRELAND - Aon Hewitt has appointed Rachael Ingle and Donal Casey as joint managing directors in Ireland.
Investor confidence drops in January
GLOBAL - Investor confidence has dropped 3.3 points to 100.9 in January from 104.2, State Street research shows.
Forstmoser joins AFIAA board
SWITZERLAND - Former Swiss Re chairman Peter Forstmoser has joined the board of Swiss Foundation for International Real Estate Investments (AFIAA).
Germany tops property investment list
GERMANY/UK - Germany has replaced the UK as the preferred location for investment in non-listed real estate funds, new research shows.
APG invests $50m in Century Properties
NETHERLANDS - APG has invested P2.25bn ($50.4m) in real estate developer Century Properties in the Philippines.
Monday Movers
Russell Investments; Mercer; Aviva Investors; Hermes; BlackRock; Aegon UK; Newport Group; Xafinity Consulting; ETF Securities.
Ireland sovereign annuity plan unaffected by early election
IRELAND - An early election in Ireland will not derail the launch of sovereign annuity bonds, the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF) believes.
Australian growth funds return 4.7% in 2010
AUSTRALIA - The median superannuation growth fund returned just 4.7% in 2010 following a downbeat first half, research by Chant West shows.
Mercer appoints retirement leader
AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND - Mercer has appointed Guy Thorburn as business leader for retirement, risk and finance consulting for Australia/New Zealand.
Russell Investments appoints alternatives director
GLOBAL - Russell Investments has appointed Darren Spencer as director of global alternative investments in its institutional consulting group.
AvSuper awards equities mandate to IFP
AUSTRALIA - AvSuper Fund has dropped US firm Wellington Management from its international equities mandate in favour of Independent Franchise Partnership (IFP) following a recent review.
AP7 returns 14.8% in 2010
SWEDEN - AP7 returned 14.8% in 2010, almost 50% more than the nation's private funds.
Pension fund interest pushes commercial property sales up 44%
UK - Commercial real estate sales rose by 44% last year as pension funds and other institutional investors targeted supermarkets and central London office space, figures show.
ATP confirms Jepsen for CIO role
DENMARK - ATP has named its deputy CIO Henrik Gade Jepsen as chief investment officer.
AllianceBernstein to launch off the shelf target date range
UK/US - AllianceBernstein is to launch a range of off-the-shelf target date funds for trust and contract- based defined contribution schemes.
AAA-rated Big Four must control pension spending
GLOBAL - France, Germany, the UK and US must rein in their pension and health care expenditure if they are to stabilise their debt in the long term, a report by Moody's warns.
Allianz Global Investors CEO Faber to retire
GERMANY - Allianz Global Investors chief executive officer (CEO) Joachim Faber has announced his intention to retire at the end of the year.
FFR executive named CIO at Groupama
FRANCE - Antoine de Salins, executive director at Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR), has left to join Groupama Asset Management (AM) as chief investment officer.
Aviva wins Dutch SPMS property mandate
NETHERLANDS - Aviva Investors has been hired to run a €350m ($454m) global unlisted real estate portfolio for the Stichting Pensioenfonds Medisch Specialisten (SPMS).
NZ Super slumps in November
NEW ZEALAND - The New Zealand Superannuation Fund posted returns -0.38% in November due to significant falls in the global fixed income markets.
New mandate for GPFG management
NORWAY - The Ministry of Finance has finalised a new policy for Norges Bank's management of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) with a stronger focus on risk management.
Dutch Government to name troubled funds
NETHERLANDS - The Dutch government is to publish a new list of struggling pension funds which may be forced to cut benefits.
State Street completes BIAM acquisition
State Street Global Advisors has completed its acquisition of Bank of Ireland Asset Management for approximately €57m (£49m) including net assets of an estimated €14m.