CFA Institute Code for Pensions

The CFA Institute has published a Code of Conduct for Members of a Pension Scheme Governing Body. The Code is intended to guide the behaviour of individuals sitting on governing bodies of pension schemes worldwide (ASIP has contributed, among others), which is why its principles are worded rather generically (see IPE story). Go to the comments section for more detailed explanation.

I find Fi360's Periodic Table of Standards of Excellence to provide a great complementary overview of best practice.

Optimised reporting with XBRL

Together with Denis Füglistaler of Infinys, I wrote an article (abstract - in German) for IRZ. Thankfully, the editor has dedicated a friendly editorial to our article.

The nemesis of pensions?

Is this man the nemesis of funded retirement systems? At any rate, Aubrey de Grey's work on life extension by regarding ageing as a curable disease gains increasing attention and traction, as witnessed by a veritable burst of recent media coverage such as Wired's. If his claim that life expectancy of about 120 years may be achievable to currently living generations, this would indeed pose a major challenge to retirement systems which rely on predictable mortality tables that shift slowly. Hence this space is certainly worth while watching for black swan risks.

XBRL for Investment Professionals

The CFA Institute, EFFAS and the IASC Foundation are hosting the first XBRL conference for Investment Professionals in London on 26 September 2008. Thanks to the recent rule proposals of the US SEC applicable to corporate filers and mutual funds, there should be a lot of interest in that topic. Registration is now open!