w/c 14 November
By Adam Cadle
News in brief, products and mandates from this week
State Street Corporation has announced that it has extended its 13 year relationship with Lufthansa German Airlines Group to include securities lending services for assets in multiple locations with total assets under custody of €9 billion. State Street was originally appointed by Lufthansa in 1998 to provide custody and accounting for the German KAG Spezialfonds.
Mercer has been appointed by Sandvik AB to provide multiple global actuarial, pensions and benefits services for over 40,000 of its employees across the globe. Mercer will develop a global pension risk management strategy in over 15 countries. It will also act as defined benefits administrator in Canada, Germany, the UK and US.
Pensionkasse Stadt Zürich (PKZH) has entered into an Investment Performance Service (IPS) agreement with Ortec Finance. The IPS will allow PKZH to gain insight in the impact of the decisions made throughout its investment decision process starting from the high level asset allocation decisions to the influence of the single managers on the overall results.
PIMCO, a global investment management firm has launched the PIMCO GIS Credit Absolute Return Fund for investors seeking a global, diversified strategy that is focused on absolute return and not constrained by a benchmark. The fund seeks out long-term, strategic investments as well as shorter-term tactical opportunities in an effort to provide positive returns in any market environment and has been added to PIMCO’s UCITS compliant Global Investor Series (GIS) fund range.
Glendevon King Asset Management(GKAM), an independent fixed income boutique, has launched the Norwegian Krone Class (NOK) in its new Global Bond Fund II with an initial focus on Nordic absolute return credit opportunities. The Fund will invest mainly in bonds with an initial focus on issues by companies based in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland and will consist of a long cash part made up of corporate and/or government bonds.
Other stories you may find of interest:
Significant variations in European countries' reactions to global downturn
European countries' pension markets have experienced mixed reactions to the global crisis, although UK businesses are at a 'severe competitive disadvantage' in Europe due to weaknesses in private and state pension systems, says Aon Consulting
State Street to acquire Intesa Sanpaolo
State Street Corporation has announced that it is to acquire Intesa Sanpaolo's Securities Services (ISPSS) business in Italy and Luxembourg
UK pensions hit by Government’s dramatic cuts
An increase in employee contributions to public sector pensions coupled with a rise in the State Pension Age were just two of the pension-related issues to come out of the UK Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review this week
