Latest Europe News
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Watson Wyatt releases Western Europe updates
Financial consultant Watson Wyatt has published the latest editions of its employee benefits and employment terms and conditions for Western Europe. The annual reports are in their 35th and 34th editions, and are references for executives with management responsibility for European or global operations. Covering 19 countries – Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, ...
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Borsa Italiana and London Stock Exchange leader in Europe for ETF trades
Aggregated figures show that July 2008 set a record in trading of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on Borsa Italiana and London Stock Exchange markets, with 140,452 trades amounting to a highest ever total of €8.8bn (£7.0bn). The average daily value traded was €383.2 million, an increase of 141 per cent year on year, and the total amount traded was an increase of 152 per ...
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European solvency hit by crashing markets
Funding levels have been affected by falling markets, according to Lehman Brothers’ latest Pension Fund Solvency Indicators released in its ...
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Citi launches pan-European service
Citi has announced a new service which will allow clients direct access to European markets on a direct basis and benefit from the consolidation of securities and cash accounts, through its Global Transaction Services business. The pan-European solution has been developed in anticipation of the changes that are expected to occur as a result of continued consolidation of the European ...
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AEGON releases €315million in securitisation transaction
AEGON has completed a €315million securitisation transaction to improve capital efficiency and optimise their capital structure as part of the group’s new strategy. The transaction adds the equivalent of around £250million of core capital, enhancing the financial flexibility of the group and improving the return on capital deployed in the UK. The move forms part of ...
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AEGON moves further into Eastern Europe
AEGON has further cemented its presence in Central and Eastern Europe with the acquisition of the Turkish life insurance and pension provider Ankara Emeklilik. The acquisition marks AEGON’s first step into the Turkish market, and is marketed as part of a broader strategy to build scale in emerging markets. The firm agreed to buy Ankara Emeklilik in February 2008, and AEGON also has ...
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AEGON expands on Eastern European presence
AEGON Hungary Pension Fund is set to merge with UNIQA and Public Service Pension Fund in an attempt to further strengthen AEGON’s presence in the ever-developing pensions market across Central and Eastern ...
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Europe ETFs overtake US market
The assets under management (AUM) in European Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) are predicted to exceed the AUM of American ETFs in the next few months. Since the beginning of 2006, the AUM of fixed income ETFs have grown from £4.4bn to £16.7bn at the end of May 2008, equating to a return of 73.5 per cent. AUM in US fixed income ETFs are currently at £21.8bn, and in Europe ...
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Pensions innovation rife in Eastern Europe
10.6.08 Creative thinking when it comes to pensions and benefit provision is rife in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) among employers keen to attract and retain an evermore demanding workforce. The latest editions of Watson Wyatt’s annual reports on employee benefits and employment terms and conditions for CEE reveal that companies are having to differentiate themselves by ...
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Seven Dials targets Northern Europe in latest asset allocations
The Seven Dials European Property Fund has targeted Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Germany as primary territories in the latest round of asset allocation. Fund manager Brett Robinson said that, as a result of the 2007 market fall out, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland all present ';outstanding'; opportunities for the fund, and the Netherlands and Germany also offer ...
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European Pensions ‘Personality of the Year’ Award – have your say
Nominations are now open for the European Pensions ‘Personality of the Year’ award which, nominated by our readers, aims to recognise those individuals that have truly made their mark in the European pensions space in recent ...
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BNP Paribas strengthens European presence
BNP Paribas Securities Services (BNP Paribas) has entered the Hungarian and Polish markets with the settlement of its first client transactions in each country. Earlier this year branches were opened in Budapest and Warsaw, and BNP Paribas now offers broker-dealers, global custodians and investment banks a full local clearing, settlement and custody solution in these countries. BNP ...
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Mirae breaks into European market
Mirae Asset Global Investments (Mirae Asset) has launched its business in Europe with the appointment of two senior executives to its London office. The Asian asset-management company has appointed Hendrik Cosijn von Ripperda as head of European distribution, and Andrew Lawley as head of UK distribution and global consultant ...
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SWIP makes in-roads into Spain
Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has strengthened its foundations in the Spanish market. SWIP’s Spanish team, based in Madrid and led by director of institutional sales Carlos Costales, will be supported by Christina Ponce, business development director at the London office. The Spanish branch of SWIP will offer, among other products, the SWIP European Fund, which ...
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Fidelity International Real Estate Business expands into Germany
Fidelity International’s Real Estate Business is planning to expand into the Continental European market with the opening of a dedicated Fidelity Real Estate Business office in Munich. The new office, which is currently going through its regulatory notifications, will provide a strategic base for Fidelity’s director of European Real Estate, Keith Sutton. From here he will ...
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Effective governance structures key to European pension funds
European pension funds are paying more attention to implementing effective governance structures, according to a survey by Mercer’s investment consulting business. The annual survey, which covered more than 1,100 European pension funds with assets of €538bn, revealed that trustees are making changes to ensure investment objectives are met and market opportunities are seized. ...
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Pensions barometer uncovers Europe’s best and worst
Denmark has come top for the second year running in a report ranking European countries according to their success at addressing pension scheme risk. The third annual Aon European Pensions Barometer, which analyses 25 of the 27 member states of the European Union (EU), rates countries by assessing four key areas of pension risks: demographics; adequacy of State provision; affordability ...
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Swedens AP funds update
Sweden’s AP1 – one of the buffer funds assigned by the Swedish Parliament to manage the Swedish people’s pension funds – has posted strong performance figures in both absolute and relative terms for the first half of 2007. The Forsta AP-fonden, which manages assets with a value of SEK 221bn, reported a total return on net assets of 6.3%, which is equal to SEK 1.3 bn ...
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Flexibility is way forward for pan-European pensions
The European Financial Services Round Table (EFR) has issued a paper in which it advocates a framework for Pan-European voluntary pension savings providing more flexibility and choice than exists today – with proposals on how to overcome some of the obstacles it currently ...
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European team set up to handle risk issues
Mercer Human Resource Consulting has set up a specialist European Financial Strategy Group to address the demand for integrated, multi-disciplinary services in pensions risk ...
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Pension reform leads to pension cuts across Europe
Pension reforms in Europe and across the globe have resulted in a significant reduction in pension promises, a new study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has indicated. The average pension promise in the 16 OECD countries covered by the Pensions at a Glance 2007 study* has been cut by 22% (for women the reduction was 25%) because of reforms, and in only ...
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Leading Dutch funds allocate €500m to clean technology
ABP and PGGM have re-inforced their commitment to sustainable investment with a joint mandate to invest in innovative, clean technology. The two largest pension funds in the Netherlands have appointed AlpInvest* to invest €500 million in innovative, clean technology in one of the largest mandates ever to be placed on the international private equity market. This is the first time ...
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Friends Provident targets Germany
UK life and pensions provider Friends Provident has entered the German market as part of a long-term development of business in continental Europe. Aiming to bring innovation and flexibility to Germany, the company has partnered with distribution and service business, Financial Partners Business (fpb) AG, to launch the Friends Plan range of pensions, which can be used for personal and ...
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Hewitt boosts European foothold
Hewitt Associates has enhanced its European presence by opening offices in both Russia and Italy in the last six weeks. The global human resources services company opened its first office in Russia, located in Moscow, where staff will focus on HR consulting services and executive compensation, and will also lead and coordinate Hewitt’s consulting work within the Commonwealth of ...
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Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood CCFC Praises France Baby TV Ban Urges FTC Action in the US
CCFC Praises France Baby TV Ban; Urges FTC Action in the US WASHINGTON - August 19 - Yesterday, ...
Turkey Digest
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Turkey remains bridge between civilisations in railway plans
Turkey is often described as the gateway between two great civilisations, this is a theme employed commonly in our promotional material to encourage tourism and it has been invoked as part of the rhetoric used in ongoing efforts to join the EU, but the fact remains that Turkey is a key player in the world of geopolitics and this is seen most clearly in two major railway projects currently being planned between three regions of the world.
Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, is famous for being the only metropolitan region in the world that spans two continents, sitting as it does in both between Asia and Europe. This idiosyncrasy of the city has made it a popular tourist destination due to the diversity of culture and architecture, but on a wider scale, the geopolitical significance of Turkey is growing and will indeed grow further if two major infrastructure plans in the Middle East and Asia take shape in the next few decades. Read more
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