The IPE European Pension Fund Awards were created to recognise and celebrate the hard work of those running the pension funds, setting benchmarks for others to follow.
There is no denying that this annual gathering of pensions professionals has now become the event of the year for everyone involved in Europe's pensions industry.
The European Pension Fund Awards consist of an afternoon seminar and a gala dinner during which the Awards are presented. The gala dinner is preceded by a cocktail reception and followed by an after dinner party making the IPE Awards the ultimate networking event.
One individual and 27 European pension funds were presented with awards tonight for excellence in pension fund management, at this year’s European Pension Fund Awards in Vienna.
A total of 35 awards were unveiled at IPE’s 2007 European Pension Fund Awards, ranging from the gold standard awards for best European pension fund and Outstanding Industry Contribution (see earlier IPE stories: ) to silver awards for the best pension funds of differing sizes, themed awards for new thinking in asset management and governance, as well as individual awards to pension funds in each country.
Among the highlights of the winners was Pensioenfonds KBC, which picked up no less than four awards, while APK and AP3 collected two gongs each.
The full list of winners for the 2007 IPE Awards, held tonight in Vienna, is as follows:
EUROPEAN GOLD AWARDS
Best European Pension Funds: Pensioenfonds KBC
Outstanding Industry Contribution: Keith Ambachtsheer
EUROPEAN SILVER AWARDS
Best Corporate Pension Fund: Pensioenfonds KBC
Best Industry-wide Pension Fund: PGGM
Best Public Pension Fund: ABP
Best Small Pension Fund: Pensioenfonds KBC
THEMED AWARDS
BEST COMMODITIES INVESTMENT - BVK
BEST DB/DC STRUCTURING/STRATEGIES - Reuters
BEST USE OF DERIVATIVES - APK
BEST EQUITIES INVESTMENT - APK
BEST FIXED INCOME INVESTMENT - Hansa Pension Fund K3
BEST HEDGE FUNDS INVESTMENT - Ilmarinen
BEST INNOVATION - ABP
BEST LIABILITY DRIVEN INVESTMENT - Pensioenfonds PNO Media
BEST PORTFOLIO CONSTRUCTION - AP3
BEST PROPERTY INVESTMENT - PKA
BEST USE OF SPECIALIST INVESTMENT MANAGER - Inarcassa
BEST SRI/CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - PenSam
COUNTRY AWARDS
BEST PENSION FUND IN AUSTRIA - Bonus
BEST PENSION FUND IN BELGIUM - Pensioenfonds KBC
BEST PENSION FUND IN CEE - Premium
BEST PENSION FUND IN DENMARK - ATP
BEST PENSION FUND IN FINLAND - VR
BEST PENSION FUND IN FRANCE - Agirc-Arrco
BEST PENSION FUND IN GERMANY - Bosch
BEST PENSION FUND IN ICELAND - Gildi
BEST PENSION FUND IN IRELAND - LifeBalance (Bank of Ireland)
BEST PENSION FUND IN ITALY - Inarcassa
BEST PENSION FUND IN THE NETHERLANDS - Doctors Pension Funds Services
BEST PENSION FUND IN NORWAY - Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS
BEST PENSION FUND IN PORTUGAL - BPI Valorização Open End PF
BEST PENSION FUND IN SPAIN - Fonditel Red Básica
BEST PENSION FUND IN SWEDEN - AP3
BEST PENSION FUND IN SWITZERLAND - ABB
BEST PENSION FUND IN THE UK - Clwyd
Belgium’s Pensioenfonds KBC was named Best European Pension Fund 2007 at the seventh annual IPE Awards ceremony in Vienna tonight.
The €900m fund also picked up three other awards as Best Corporate Pension Fund, Best Small Pension Fund and Best Belgian Pension Fund, before finally receiving the crowning position as best scheme among its peers for 2007.
“Pensioenfonds KBC has deservedly taken no fewer than four awards this year, and its approach to liability management stood out from among the many high quality entrants to win it the Best Corporate Pension Fund award for 2007,” commented Liam Kennedy, editor of IPE, on the scheme’s success.
“We extend our warm congratulations to Edwin Meysmans, managing director of Pensioenfonds KBC, and to his team,” he added.
Collecting the Best Corporate Pension Fund and Best European Pension Fund for KBC, awards, Edwin Meysmans said: “I’d like to share this award with the other pension funds of Belgium. We don’t have a government, but we have very good pension funds.
“We had a seminar earlier in the day [at the IPE Awards Seminar] asking whether small pension funds can do better than large pension funds. I think this award shows we can score better,” he added.
