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Article: Bond bombshell: Boots' remarkable move last year to shift its pension investments exclusively into bonds was prompted by several factors, not least of which was the advent of FRS17. Fiona Ross considers whether the company's controversial decision to turn its back on equities will prove to be the right one. (Finance Investment).
- Article from:
- Financial Management (UK)
- Article date:
- May 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The disappointing performance and volatility of stock markets over the past couple of years have given investors plenty of food for thought. The equity content of many institutional pension funds has dragged overall returns down significantly, leading fund managers to question the way in which assets are allocated between bonds and equities.
An extreme example of this occurred last November when Boots turned conventional wisdom on its head and decided to switch its entire fund portfolio to bonds. The move caused some astonishment among observers. Even a number of personal finance columns followed the story. Surely, they asked, if a large institutional investor ...