Rising equities causes European pension jitters

The findings of Mercer’s annual European Asset Allocation Survey survey covering over 1,200 plans from 13 countries with total assets of more than €750 bn, confirm that the average equity allocation has fallen from 43% to 39% (the comparable figures was 68% in 2003). The survey also reveals that the proportion of schemes across Europe that allocate some part of their assets to a liability hedging mandate increased from 15% to 26% over the last year. Mercer says such strategies have become commonplace in the Netherlands as well as the UK and nearly half of the 1,200 schemes surveyed confi...