European News in Brief
November 2009
BlackRock has opted to transfer two of its real estate fund of funds to Aviva Investors Global Services Limited. The BlackRock European Property Fund of Funds will become Aviva Investors European Real Estate Fund of Funds, and the BlackRock UK Property Fund of Funds will become the Aviva Investors UK Real Estate Fund of Funds. The changeover follows the previous manager of the funds at BlackRock, John Gellatly, transferring to Aviva Investors in September 2009. Gellatly will help to maintain continuity for unit holders.
One third of respondents to a Horwath Clark
Whitehill survey have identified investment exposures in their
pension schemes that they were not aware of at the initial time of investment.
Pension managers and trustees were questioned on investment governance
arrangements of occupational pension schemes, and a third said that they
expect to achieve an adequate retirement income by investing in default
investment funds.
Credit Suisse is to expand its Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) platform to Germany by listing 16 ETFs on the Deutsche Börse on 25 November 2009, subject to regulatory approval. The expansion into Germany represents the second country outside Switzerland where Credit Suisse’s ETF product range is to be made available, with the launch of 17 ETFs in Italy last month.
Gatemore Capital Management has launched its London investment consultancy office, headed by actuary Mark Hodgson who joins from HSBC Actuaries where he was director of investment consulting. Gatemore Capital Management is a boutique investment consultancy based in New York City, which serves pension schemes and private clients.
Rothesay Life has completed a £370million buy-in of liabilities of the CDC Pension Scheme, the UK government-owned fund of funds which invests in private equity funds focused on emerging markets in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The buy-in arrangements see the trustees retain the assets in the defined benefit (DB) scheme, providing collateral, and covers all scheme members. The collateral will be invested in a portfolio of corporate bonds from which the returns will be paid to Rothesay Life. Mercer arranged the transaction as investment adviser and broker to the Trustees.
Watson Wyatt has hit the one million mark for the number of pension scheme members it administers in the UK, with numbers more than doubling in the past five years. “This milestone is psychologically important as it underlines our commitment to the pensions administration market,” commented Clive Witherington, head of business for Watson Wyatt’s technology and administration solutions team. “Our success comes from both winning new clients and – perhaps more importantly – retaining existing ones.”
MetLife Europe Limited is to increase
the guarantee choice on its Retirement Portfolio following demand from
advisers and clients. Investors will not be able to choose annual step-ups
on income and capital guarantees with ten per cent growth potential or
unlimited growth with step-ups every two and a half years, compared to
the previous three-year step-ups.
Assureweb has announced that income protection provider
Pioneer has launched its Pure Protection and Professional Income Protection
products on www.assureweb.co.uk. The aim is to maximise the number of
intermediaries who can access quotes for its range of policies. Nick Jones,
brand and marketing manager at Pioneer, said: “We know that intermediaries
like our products, both our strong growth over recent years and the feedback
we receive tell us as much. But what we also know is that not all intermediaries
have the easy access they would like.”
FOUR Capital Partners Limited has announced
that it has entered into an investment partnership with Sanlam International
Investment Partners, with Sanlam taking an initial 29.9 per cent equity
interest in the firm for an undisclosed sum. None of the equity from FOUR’s
executives will be sold, maintaining FOUR’s position as a majority
employee owned company. Sanlam is a division of the Sanlam Group, a listed
South Africa financial services group. It has investment management capabilities
in Southern Africa, the UK, Asia and India.
