South Korean pension fund looks at offshore investing; European investors vent fury with eggs and shoes; Marks & Spencer reviews pension plan; US pension trustee faces allegations of misconduct
South Korea pension fund revives overseas investing South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) is set to resume overseas investing in June.
NPS wound back investments outside South Korea last year following the global financial meltdown and ensuing volatility of the won against the US dollar, but has decided it is time to renew exposure to overseas equities.
Speaking at the Asian Investment Summit, NPS chief executive Park Hae-choon said the stabilisation of the dollar and the won made investment overseas attractive again, but added the fund would proceed cautiously.
The NPS is the world's fifth largest pension fund, with an estimated $255.7 billion under management.
Investors vent fury with eggs, shoes Shareholder meetings have generated some battles through the years, but shareholders' ire at the recent hash banks and companies have made of their investments is particularly fiery.
Irate Allied Irish Banks (AIB) shareholder Gary Keogh vented his anger by pitching rotten eggs at the AIB board, which met in Dublin in May, hitting AIB chairman Dermot Gleeson. The Irish banking crisis has destroyed life savings for many investors.
"I bought them a month ago and made sure they were really evil smelling, like the board of AIB," the retired Keogh told the Irish Independent.
No less dramatic was the response of Fortis shareholders called to vote on the sale of the Belgian bank to France's BNP Paribas last month. The vote ended up in favour of the sale, but some shareholders threw shoes at the board during the meeting and sang the French national anthem in protest.
Bailed out and nationalised by the Belgian and Dutch governments following an overambitious acquisition of Dutch bank ABN Amro and exposure to the sub-prime industry, Fortis now needs the approval of Dutch shareholders for the sale.
Marks & Spencer reviews pension plan partnership United Kingdom retailer Marks & Spencer has struck a new deal with its pension scheme to cut payments in tough economic conditions.
The company said the change would allow more flexibility around cash flows and an estimated $1.1 billion of its pensions debt could be re-classified as shareholders' equity.
Marks & Spencer's pension fund balance fell from a $986 million surplus to a $310.1 million deficit through March as a result of falling stock markets.
In 2007, the retailer established a $2.4 billion property leaseback partnership with its group pension scheme using its property portfolio as insurance. The fund pays the scheme $101.9 million a year in so-called rent for store properties.
Former pensions director silent on alleged misconduct The former director of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp (PBGC) took the Fifth Amendment at a United States Senate hearing to face allegations he had inappropriate contacts with Wall Street firms bidding for multi-million dollar investment advisory contracts.
Appointed under former president George Bush in May 2007, Charles Millard had argued for a more aggressive investment strategy for the US government pension agency and had backed investment in higher-risk stocks and real estate.
Millard has denied the allegations he repeatedly called and emailed executives at Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase, among others, as he evaluated bids.
Vince Snowbarger, the agency's acting director, has recommended the PBGC's board terminate the three contracts in question.
PBGC, which insures pensions of an estimated 44 million Americans, is faced with an unprecedented $42.83 billion deficit following a surge of insolvencies among companies with underfunded pension schemes.
