LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) – British pension funds are
preparing to boost allocations to emerging market bonds, and cut
exposure to equities amid fears of further stock market
volatility in the west, pensions consultant Cardano said.

“We see ourselves on the knife edge. We would not like to
take on a lot of equity market risk with clients’ money,” Philip
Page, clients manager at the consultant’s UK office, told
Reuters.

LONDON (Reuters) – Investment banks looking to profit as companies try to insure the risk they will pay pensions for longer have a struggle on their hands.

The bankers want to do longevity swaps — deals where a counterparty takes on the liabilities for a period, pocketing the difference if payouts fall short of trustee estimates, and paying out if they overshoot.

LONDON (Reuters) – Investment banks looking to profit as companies try to insure the risk they will pay pensions for longer have a struggle on their hands.

The bankers want to do longevity swaps — deals where a counterparty takes on the liabilities for a period, pocketing the difference if payouts fall short of trustee estimates, and paying out if they overshoot.

LONDON (Reuters) – Ireland’s future as a magnet for international investment funds is secure even if its euro zone partners demand a shake-up of its corporate tax regime to boost its finances and curb risk of default on Irish sovereign bonds.

Fund managers, custodians and administrators who have flocked to Ireland to exploit its 12.5 percent corporation tax are more likely to swallow a rate hike than give up the swift route to market and the ‘hands-off’ approach to regulation that have become the hallmarks of an Irish domicile.

LONDON (Reuters) – Ireland’s future as a magnet for international investment funds is secure even if its euro zone partners demand a shake-up of its corporate tax regime to boost its finances and curb risk of default on Irish sovereign bonds.

Fund managers, custodians and administrators who have flocked to Ireland to exploit its 12.5 percent corporation tax are more likely to swallow a rate hike than give up the swift route to market and the ‘hands-off’ approach to regulation that have become the hallmarks of an Irish domicile.

LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) – The Barclays UK pension fund
(BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) may review its 800 million pounds ($1.26 billion)
exposure to hedge funds investing in credit as the scheme sets
up its own asset management unit, its head of dynamic asset
allocation said.

The move would allow the 18.2 billion pound Barclays UK
Retirement Fund, one of the largest in the UK, to take charge of
investment decisions in that asset class through its newly
funded Oak Pensions Asset Management, Stergios Saloustros told
Reuters.

LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) – UK companies could be sued by
their pension schemes if government plans to cut costs using
lower inflation assumptions for public sector pensions are
copied by the private sector, industry experts said.

“Lawyers will have a great deal of work to do to actually
work this out. Potentially we could see court cases,” Lynda
Whitney, principal at consultancy Aon Hewitt told Reuters.

LONDON (Reuters) – Aberdeen Asset Management is “very, very” unlikely to make a move for rival Gartmore, its CEO said on Tuesday, after the acquisitive funds house trumped forecasts with a 147 percent rise in pretax profits.

Propped up by record new business inflows in equity and emerging market products, Aberdeen posted 210 million pounds full-year pretax profits ahead of the 184.7 million pound consensus forecast from 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Aberdeen Asset Management’s
(ADN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) pretax profits jumped 147 percent in the 12 months to
end-September, propped up by record new business inflows.

Aberdeen posted profit before tax of 210 million pounds
($327 million) for the year, up from 85.1 million pounds a year
earlier, and ahead of the 184.7 million pound consensus forecast
from 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
It attracted net inflows of 2.6 billion pounds, partially
reversing the net outflow of 10.7 billion pounds the previous
year, mainly due to demand for emerging market and global
equities products. [ID:nGEE5AP1W4]