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To what extent does the Price to Earnings Ratio affect the investment decisions of those who manage Trusteed Pension Funds in Canada? Secondly: What are the dangers of ignoring this index when trading in common stocks for pension plans? METHODOLOGY A complete study of Canadian pension funds and the methods of funding was made in order to get a thorough understanding of pensions in Canada. Trusteed pensions fall into two categories: - the Money Purchase Plans. - the Definite Benefit Plans. The Trusteed pension was studied from the point of view of costs and benefits, emphasizing the importance of investment yields. A study of the Price Earnings Ratio per se., was made. The study includes the examination of accounting methods used to determine earnings per share. The next step was to determine and understand the relationship of the Price Earnings Ratio to corporate growth. A further step was to determine the variables contributing to sustained corporate growth. A study of the usefulness of the Price Earnings Ratio as a valuation tool was made, based on the works of leading writers in this field. The use made of the Price Earnings Ratio by investment managers in practice was examined, as well as the whole decision making process. This was achieved through personal interviews and by questionnaires. From the information received, a summary was prepared on the decision making process and the role of the Price Earnings Ratio in that process. Various data concerning pension portfolio stocks, Price Earnings Ratios and performance, was collected and summarized in the appendices. CONCLUSIONS It was concluded that: - Considering the cost of a pension, the two most important variables are expense and earnings; of the two, investment yield or earnings has the greatest effect on reducing costs. - In determining earnings per share, not only primary E.P.S. but also fully diluted E.P.S. should be determined and compared. - The Price Earnings Ratio is a concept consistent with the present value formulae and assumes combinations of earnings, growth, duration, discount and dividend payouts. It is important that investment managers understand this. - Sustainable growth is dependent primarily on margin, turnover, leverage and taxes. - Statistical studies have shown that low Price Earnings Ratio stocks consistently outperform high Price Earnings Ratio stocks. - The decision making process places great emphasis on Fundamental Analysis and the Price Earnings Ratio. - When considering the Price Earnings Ratio, the analyst will study it in relation to the popular indices, other companies in the industry and in relation to the companies projected growth rates. RECOMMENDATIONS Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, a stock with a low Price Earnings Ratio should be purchased in preference to a stock with a high Price Earnings Ratio, particularly if the stock meets these conditions: - A consistently high earnings record in past years. - There is no evidence of an earnings decline in future years. - The quality of management is high. - There is a relatively high margin and turnover. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

M.Comm. / Pension funds have risen to great prominence in the last two decades because they provide a service that fits the needs of individuals. The community at large are rapidly accepting and demanding facilities for proper retirement planning. Employees contribute towards retirement funds and their contributions are tax deductible while taxable to the employee upon retirement, generally at a lower rate. The employer, who has instituted the retirement fund, owes the fund because the employer is regarded as being in the position of a trustee. The most important fiduciary duty the employer owes to the fund is the duty to act in good faith. This duty should be exercised when setting up the fund, appointing trustees, paying benefits, etc. (Liberty Life, 1997:9). The retirement industry plays an important role in our economy. A retirement fund must be registered with the Financial Services Board and approved by the South African Revenue Services to obtain the necessary tax benefits provided to retirement funds. The performance of any fund depends on the investment decisions made by the fund sponsor. There are a few types of retirement funds with various structures. There are: (1) pension funds, (2) provident funds and (3) retirement annuities. Pension funds and provident funds are employer-based schemes because only the employer can initiate it. The third alternative, a retirement annuity, caters for self-employed individuals and the private investor wanting to utilize the tax benefits provided to retirement funds (Bradley et al., 2000:185) The objective of the research is to determine the strategic investment planning of pension funds in South Africa. Does the pension fund management treat the fund like a business? Does the fund have a detailed investment process? Does the fund have a detailed investment policy framework?

M.Com. (Investment Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 155-164. / by Anita Emily Landecker. / M.C.P.

M.Comm. / Unemployment in South Africa is a growing concern. With unemployment reaching proportions, poverty and related crime levels are on the increase. Government, pressured by organised labour groups, is looking at all possible means of creating employment. COSATU, as a representative of organised labour, are calling for increased state participation in the economy in order to improve the "workers" plight. COSATU has identified retirement funds as a potential source of employment creation. Worth some R600 billion, retirement funds represent 35% or more of total savings in South Africa, and provide about 60% of local finance to companies. COSATU view these assets as belonging to their members, i.e. a large part of the funds consist of workers' deferred wages in the form of savings for retirement. COSATU believes that these funds should be invested in areas that promote their members' plight. At the end of October 2000, the Economic Empowerment Commission will have handed their formal empowerment proposals to the President. In an article, which appeared in the Financial Times on 14 September 2000, "Blueprint set out for black advancement", details were given of the Economic Empowerment Commission's expected proposals in this regard: "The black economic empowerment commission has proposed wide-ranging recommendations to reinvigorate black economic empowerment, stimulate fixed investment and accelerate economic growth. Commission Chairman Cyril Ramaphosa revealed an outline of the full package of the commission's proposals for the first time yesterday during a joint briefing of several parliamentary committees. The commission has called on business, labour and government to reach an "investment growth" accord and adopt a national black economic empowerment strategy.

by Wong Sai Tat, Patrick, Leung Chi Keung, Edmond. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Bibliography: leaf 87.

Pension fund investments have been under the spotlight lately, particularly on the back of the recent global financial and economic crisis that resulted in a significant reduction in pension fund assets across economies. Increased poverty levels and high financial indebtedness abound, as workers grapple with retrenchments, reduction in retirement benefits and reduced wages. This is causing a re-assessment of investment strategies of pension funds across the globe, and increasing support for the argument that, the traditional equity/government bond asset allocation is out - fashioned in a world of lower returns and wider choices. Pension funds by virtue of their size, can impact the society directly and/or indirectly through investments in companies that incorporate environmental, social and governance issues in their corporate behaviours, or in dedicated socially responsible investment funds or other forms of alternative investments. This study sought to provide a link between the investment patterns of pension funds and national economic development. An in-depth literature review was undertaken, and investments impacts were assessed by looking at published reports of select funds and corporations. Pension funds are an integral part of a nation‟s economy. This research work established the various dimensions in which pension fund investments can impact the socio economic development of a country, especially in developing countries, where there exists a huge infrastructural and economic gap among different sectors of the economy. Pension funds are workers capital, and therefore should be invested in a manner that will benefit workers, and these benefits cannot be restricted to mere financial benefits, it should be able to generate social, financial and environmental benefits, and in a sustainable way.

Prior studies on the impact of the termination of overfunded defined benefit pension plans on shareholders' wealth have produced conflicting findings. The first study on the stock market reaction to pension plan termination was conducted by Alderson and Chen (1986); this study claimed that shareholders realize significant positive abnormal returns around the termination announcement date. A more recent study, by Moore and Pruitt (1990), disclaimed the findings of Alderson and Chen. Reexamination of these two studies with additional evidence and the use of the appropriate announcement date suggests that termination of pension plans is associated with significant wealth gain to shareholders. This study also analyzes samples from periods prior to and after the imposition in 1986 of a 10 percent excise tax on recaptured excess pension assets. The empirical results suggest that shareholders experience significant positive wealth effects for the pre-tax (1980-85) period and no wealth effects for the post-tax (1986-88) period. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the impact of stock market reaction upon shareholders' wealth under the partial anticipation hypothesis. The pre-tax sample is analyzed by isolating the expected terminators using the multiple discriminant analysis model. This study finds significant positive abnormal returns only for firms that are not anticipated by the investors as potential terminators. The results of this study do not lend support to either the "separation" or the "integration" hypothesis as proposed by Alderson and Chen (1986). Instead, the results are consistent with the information hypothesis that the market reacts to unanticipated events that provide new information. Cross-sectional regression analysis of unexpected terminators suggests that the abnormal performance of stocks of pension terminating firms is explained by the firms' debt ratio and the amount of surplus pension assets. It can be inferred that firms may resort to recapturing excess pension assets as a way of financing investments internally when faced with unfavorable credit markets.

Pension funds are the principal sources of retirement income for millions of people in the world. Pension funds are also important contributors to the gross domestic product (GDP) of countries. This study focuses on pension funds in Kenya. Retirement income accounts for 68 percent of the total income of retirees in Kenya, while pension assets account for 30 percent of Kenya’s GDP. It is therefore important that pension funds be managed effectively, not only in Kenya, but also in other countries. The primary objective of the study is to investigate ways of enhancing pension fund efficiency by establishing the determinants of such efficiency. More specifically, the study explores the effect that the organisational culture, regulations, investment strategy, ethics, risk management, design, size and the age profile of members of pension funds exert on the efficiency of these funds. A sample of 749 pension funds was drawn from the Kenyan Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) register. The sample selection was based on the criterion that these pension funds should have been in existence within the period 2001 to 2008. Seven hundred and forty-nine (749) questionnaires were mailed to the trustees of these pension funds. Three hundred and sixty-two (362) usable questionnaires were returned, which translated into a response rate of 48.3 per cent. Except for financial efficiency, self-constructed instruments based on secondary literature reviews were used to measure the variables in the hypothesised model to improve pension fund efficiency. Appropriate steps were taken to ensure the validity and reliability of these measuring instruments. The empirical results revealed that leadership, governance, regulations, design, membership age and size of funds had no significant influence on operational efficiency of these funds. The results further showed that the membership age, design, regulations and operational efficiency of pension funds exerted no significant influence on their financial efficiency. The results also revealed that the membership age, size and design of pension funds did not influence how these funds were led by their leadership. iv The empirical results however showed that smaller pension funds were perceived to exhibit better financial efficiency, while pension funds with membership aged 31 - 40 were perceived to be better governed compared to other age groups. Finally, in rigorous structural equation analyses, no significant relationships were found between fund regulations (independent variable), on the one hand, and fund governance and leadership (dependent variables), on the other hand. Use of simple linear regression however disclosed a significant positive relationship between the afore-mentioned independent variable and dependent variables.