Belgium

BELGIUM - Demand for lower volatility in the wake of the IAS19 accounting standards has pushed Belgium's KBC pension fund to consider increasing its exposure to real estate as part of a shakedown of its strategic asset allocation.

BELGIUM - Early retirement schemes will continue to limit the achievements of pension reform, even if they are made more restrictive, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

BELGIUM - Brussels became the epicentre of a national strike today as 100,000 workers protested against the federal government's plans to raise the minimum early retirement age from 58 to 60.

BELGIUM - Dexia has rejected a joint venture proposal from Benelux rival, Fortis.

BELGIUM - Fortis Investments saw its assets under management grow by 4.3% to e95.6bn in the second quarter and reported "considerable new institutional business across nearly all locations".

BELGIUM - Vanguard Investments Europe has launched a new inflation-linked bond index fund on the back of increased demand from pension funds on the Continent for passive investment solutions.

BELGIUM - Some 77% of Belgian pension funds were investing in UCITS in fiscal 2004, up from 65% in 2000, according to the Belgian Association of Pension Institutions.

BELGIUM - Subsidies for early retirement in Belgium should be progressively phased out to increase the employment rate for older workers, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

BELGIUM - Belgian pension funds achieved a median return of 8.6% in 2004, partly through maintaining their weighting in traditional asset categories like equities.

BELGIUM - Belgian pension funds returned a healthy 8.4% in 2004, compared to 9.6% in 2003, according to provisional estimates released by Mercer Investment Consulting.