Smart beta: where is the value?

I’ve been contemplating the “smart beta” wave the industry seems to be riding at the moment. Cynically, part of that contemplation asks whether there is any innovation at play or whether it’s simply the industry playing with nomenclature once again. The answer is confusing, for while I’d like to be able to write it off … Read more

Dutch fund bolsters bonds, chills on bricks

Things are suddenly looking cheerful again in the world of Dutch pensions. The country’s famous tulip fields might not be set to bloom until April, but investors already have a harvest to delight at from a good year of investing. For instance, Hans de Ruiter, chief investment officer of the €2.5-billion ($3.36-billion) TNO pension fund … Read more

A healthier way to de-risk

Defined-benefit funds all over the world are focused on de-risking but the amount of innovation and players to meet this demand is wanting. Until now. A new report by the Pensions Institute at the Cass Business School examines the emergence of medically enhanced, underwritten or enhanced, bulk buy-ins, in which trustees buy a bulk annuity … Read more

How is the Tesco fund faring aged one?

According to the latest figures, an ambitious turnaround plan at the United Kingdom’s biggest supermarket chain, Tesco, has helped reverse falling profits. Last year the retailer, one of Britain’s largest private sector employers and a landmark in every town since founder Jack Cohen opened his first store in North London in 1929, also changed strategy … Read more

Global CIO survey: lowered expectations

Connecticut-based financial services management consultant, Casey Quirk, and institutional investment specialist publication, top1000funds.com, joined forces in a global chief investment officer survey to measure the sentiment of asset owners, and the extent to which the 2008 crisis has had an effect on the behaviour of internal investment teams, their outlook and corresponding asset allocation. With … Read more