Latest International Business News
RSS-
PRI removes five companies from signatory list and pledges to step up transparency
The UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative (PRI) has delisted five financial institutions from its signatories for failing to participate in its annual Reporting and Assessment process. Participation is mandatory for asset owner and investment manager signatories, although organisations new to the initiative are granted a grace year to allow them to observe and decide ...
-
Greek economy in dire need of reforms
Greece is in need of radical reforms to its pension system if it is to cease being a burden on longer-term fiscal sustainability, and to prevent a rise in pension costs that would otherwise see these accounting for more than 20 per cent of GDP by 2050, warns the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In ...
-
China snatches 18 swimming golds to spearhead Military World Games
Chinese swimmers maintained their momentum in swimming at the Military World Games on Wednesday, grabbing four more gold medals and obtaining 18 in total out of 36 available in the pool. After four days' competition at the Military World Games, which is set to close on July 24, Chinese military athletes altogether collected 18 golds from swimming and piled up 22 gold, leading the medals ...
More International Business News
RSS-
Six Chinese sailors to attend Clipper Round World sailing race
Six Chinese amateur sailors will embark on the yacht named Qingdao to attend the 2011-2012 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, local sports administration said Wednesday. The six sailors, who are manager, journalist, college student and private entrepreneurs, took training for several months in Qingdao city and two-week training in England, said Lin Zhiwei, head of local sports general ...
-
Ghana slips in FIFA world rankings
Ghana dropped further three places in the latest FIFA world ranking, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) announced here on Wednesday. A statement on the website of the country's footbal association said Ghana had slipped three places to 36th position in the world ranking from the previous 33rd position it was ranked in last month, on the world stage, while ranking 3rd on the continent ...
-
Australian Karl Muggeridge to replace injured Xaus at World Superbike in UK
Australian motorcycle racer Karl Muggeridge will replace Ruben Xaus at the World Superbike races in Britain, as Xaus suffered from injuries due to a crash, Fox Sports Australia reported on Wednesday. Earlier, Castrol Honda team had fielded Alex Lowes after Jonny Rea was sidelined by injury, but the team has to pull in a second substitute after their second rider, Xaus suffered a horrible crash. ...
-
We can let fission fizzle out in a renewable world
Why would anyone choose to reinvest in a form of power that seems not to have been harnessed properly? At Chernobyl and Fukushima the world had two very close shaves. Not a very impressive safety record for a technology that has been pampered with billions of dollars of investment over 60 ...
-
China plans to reduce states role in the economy
The country’s new prime minister, Li Keqiang, said this month that the central government would reduce the state’s role in economic ...
-
Ferrari World Abu Dhabi to move to 7-day ops
"There's been a growing demand for a continuous entertainment offering and the appeal of Yas Island as a leisure destination is now even higher," said Andy Keeling, park manager, Ferrari World Abu ...
-
International Retirement Scheme opens to UK Limited Companies
A new tax-efficient Pension Trust that allows UK Limited Companies to provide retirement packages for their employees who have responsibilities outside the UK has been launched by s615(6) Limited. The International Retirement Benefit Scheme had previously only been open to direct clients, but for the first time will be offered as a new international pensions solution, and can stand ...
-
Landmark securities fraud settlement reached against Shell
The largest securities fraud settlement ever has been reached in Europe, with a Dutch appeals court ordering Royal Dutch Shell plc to begin the payment of $381million, plus interest, to a foundation representing a group of institutional investors from 17 European countries. Investors from Canada and Australia were also represented, and in total more than 150 institutional investors were ...
-
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. The employee risk and benefits management firm has produced a report detailing the state of the pensions markets in individual ...
-
Swiss economy still suffering
The prospects for the Swiss economy have changed marginally in the latest Financial Market Test Switzerland, conducted by Credit Suisse in cooperation with the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW). The Credit Suisse ZEW indicator of economic expectations crawled up by a mere 0.6 points to the -57.1 mark, and 65.3 per cent of financial market experts forecast further deterioration ...
-
Growing number of multinationals considering global policies
The number of multinationals that plan to implement global funding policies across all aspects of retirement plan management by 2010 has increased to 87 per cent, according to Mercer. The financial consultant’s Multinational Survey also shows that 85 per cent of multinationals will use some form of ‘global’ approach to set their investment objectives by 2010, and 61 per ...
-
Global pension systems ‘tested on every level’
show that assets fell from around US$25trn to US$20trn, with the global pensions balance sheet also shrinking by around 29 per cent in 2008. The financial consultant says this reflects the combined effects of poor performing assets and lower government bond yields. ';While the ramifications of this global economic crisis will be played out for many years to come, the striking ...
-
Recession looms for Swiss economy
The Swiss economy is set to slide into recession in 2009, predict experts at Credit Suisse. Switzerland’s real economy finally felt the full force of the financial crisis in late 2008. Previous to this, the country had held up considerably better than that of other industrialised nations, but economists fear that Switzerland’s gross domestic product (GDP) could decline by 0.6 ...
-
SGAM sells London business
Societe Generale Asset Management (SGAM) has sold its London subsidiary (SGAM UK) to GLG Partners, Inc. SGAM UK currently manages $8.2bn worth of assets, equating to around 2.5 per cent of overall assets managed by SGAM. The transaction will see SGAM UK shares sold to GLG, and is expected to be finalised in the first half of 2009, subject to regulatory approval. GLG intends to ...
-
Norway Global fund suffers 7.7 drop
Norway’s Government Pension Fund – Global recorded all-time low returns of -7.7 per cent in quarter three of 2008 (Q3 2008), 1.8 per cent lower than that on the benchmark portfolio defined by the Ministry of Finance, according to the latest quarterly report by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM). NOK 128bn of transfers were made to the fund in the quarter, and at the end ...
-
Liquidation shock provokes industry warning
The importance of pension fund trustees continuing to review the strength of their sponsoring employers is highlighted by a sharp rise in the number of insolvency events, according to Watson Wyatt. The financial consultant has looked at figures released by the Insolvency Service, which it said show there were 4,059 insolvent liquidations in quarter three of 2008 – a figure which is ...
-
db x-trackers achieves massive global growth
The year 2008 represented a record growth in assets under management (AUM) for db x-trackers, Deutsche Bank’s exchange traded fund (ETF) platform, amongst all ETF providers globally. The past 21 months have brought db x-trackers up to the third largest ETF provider in Europe, and the sixth largest globally. Between the beginning of 2008 and 30 September 2008, db x-trackers’ ...
-
Lowest asset growth among world top managers
The total assets under management among the world’s 500 largest fund managers grew by around nine per cent in 2007 to US$69.4trn, according to ...
-
Launch of world’s fifth largest insurance company
Aviva Investors has officially launched, marking the creation of the world’s fifth largest insurance company. The company is investing to transform its asset management business over the coming years, which will significantly increase its contribution to the Aviva Group’s profit, and will become an ';investment powerhouse on a global scale';. The single business ...
-
Sarkozy accusation leads to industry call for clarification
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has blamed the current financial turmoil on hedge funds. At the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday 23 September 2008, Sarkozy stated that an overhaul and more regulation are necessary for the global financial system. He also said it should become less opaque. Sarkozy called for a punishment to those responsible for the current crisis and alleged ...
-
Swiss economy will neither boom nor bust
The Swiss economy is expected to neither boom nor go bust in 2009, according to economists at Credit Suisse. Thus far, the Swiss economy has proven to be robust, and although the current economic climate has had a negative impact on perception, it has had little reflection in the economic data. Economists say that the Swiss economy, despite seeing economic growth below its potential, will ...
-
World pension assets grow to US$12 trn
, also showed that most major countries recorded increases in assets, and that the size of these assets has more than doubled over five years. ';The world’s largest pension funds continue to benefit from a high profile as global demographic challenges remain front of mind,'; commented Carl Hess, global head of investment consulting at Watson Wyatt. ';As a result ...
News from around our Network
