Private pensions in Europe are being affected by a trend that has already hit the US and Britain. Increasingly companies are giving up the task of managing the investments themselves and hiring specialist fund managers to the job for them.
This report from Andrew Walker:
Some of the world's biggest financial firms make a substantial share of their money by managing other people's. For many, the most important saving they have is for a pension for their retirement. Throughout the developed world, many companies provide a fund, which they and their staff contribute to, which is then invested in shares, bonds and other assets. Many do manage the investments themselves, with the help of advisers. But an increasing number are hiring specialists to do it. This well established trend in North America and Britain is affecting other parts of Europe too, as the decision by Phillips of the Netherlands indicates.
The benefits include the fact that big financial firms should be more expert in managing assets, and the running costs should be lower because they manage such large amounts of money. In principle, it could mean better returns and so better pensions than if the work were done by less expert in house people. There are risks however. There can be conflicts of interest - if a fund manager company is doing other business with a company whose shares the pension fund owns, for example. And analysts say it is important that the assets handed over are protected from any legal action if the fund management company gets into difficulty.
Andrew Walker, BBC News
a substantial share
una cantidad sustancial
a pension
una pensión o cantidad de dinero pagada regularmente
retirement
jubilación, período a partir del cual se ha dejado de ser activo laboralmente
a fund
un ahorro
assets
activos, valores que alguien posee
indicates
indica, del verbo indicar
expert
(adj.) experto
running costs
costos operativos o cantidad de dinero necesitada para mantener un negocio en funcionamiento
returns
ganancias
handed over
entregado formalmente (a alguien más)
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