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Lepelmeier: interest rates ruin German strategy

German institutional investors face an urgent need to reconsider their bond-heavy investment strategies, argues Dirk Lepelmeier, a former investment head at one of the country’s largest pension funds. Herr Prof Dr Dirk Lepelmeier, to use his appropriate German titles, would rather be addressed as Dirk. That might be of no surprise to many, but it […]
Dan BillinghamNovember 1, 2013
Investor Profile

The Finnish line: Varma tackles low interest

The scourge of low interest rates looks likely to be confronting investors for at least a little longer after Washington’s budgetary shenanigans delayed the Federal Reserve’s plans to taper quantitative easing. Over in the more sedate surroundings of Helsinki, this is keeping the pressure on the investment policy of Varma, a €36-billion ($49-billion) Finnish pension […]
Dan BillinghamOctober 30, 2013
Uncategorised posts

ATP: experiments with alpha and beta

“There is very little pure alpha” said Henrik Jepsen, chief investment officer of ATP, at the Fiduciary Investors Symposium in Amsterdam when reflecting on the giant Danish fund’s experiences with the return class. The DKK 624-billion ($114-billion) ATP decided to merge the alpha and beta platforms of its investment portfolio earlier this year. This wound […]
Dan BillinghamOctober 30, 2013
Amsterdam 2013

Negative real interest rates a clear sign of financial repression

Sylvester Eijffinger, a Tilburg University professor and renowned international monetary policy expert said “financial repression is everywhere in the OECD” in a keynote address to the Fiduciary Investors Symposium in Amsterdam. Eijffinger says “the globalisation of monetary policy makes it very hard for emerging economies to shield themselves from these influences”. Eijffinger points to negative […]
Dan BillinghamOctober 25, 2013
Amsterdam 2013

Pension design, regulation barriers to long-term investing

Fundamental questions of pension system design and regulation are serious barriers to fulfilling the global long-term investing agenda, according to a panel of major European asset owner heads at the Fiduciary Investors Symposium in Amsterdam. Eloy Lindeijer, chief of investment management of €140-billion ($191-billion) Dutch investor PGGM said “maybe politicians still don’t realise that there […]
Dan BillinghamOctober 25, 2013
Amsterdam 2013

PFZW: new beliefs
for a new world

The €140-billion ($191-billion) Dutch pension fund PFZW is in the midst of completely rethinking its investment philosophy, Jaap van Dam, managing director of PGGM, told the Fiduciary Investors Symposium in Amsterdam. PGGM manages the investments of PFZW and has traditionally guided them. Van Dam explains that ownership of the investment strategy is to shift decidedly […]
Dan BillinghamOctober 22, 2013
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