| LONDON, September 7, 2006 - Standard & Poor's Fund Services, the world's leading provider of fund information, ratings and research, announced today that it has won the tender to supply PPM, the Swedish Premium Pensions authority with fund research and ratings.
PPM currently has 5.5 million customers - pension savers representing the working population of Sweden - and each year an equivalent of 2.5% (capped at 28 000 SEK (€3006) per month) of each tax paying worker's salary is invested in funds selected through the PPM platform. This year the PPM will administer 25 billion SEK (€2.68 billion), which is expected to grow by approximately 1 billion SEK (€100 million) every year.
Savers use the PPM platform to create their premium pension portfolios consisting of up to 5 funds selected from a range of 750 retail investment funds managed by 85 fund managers. Of these funds, 40% are managed by Swedish fund managers and the rest by foreign groups, although savers currently show a home bias in their choice of funds.
The fund information published by PPM today regarding individual funds is limited to historical performance, risk and fees and does not include any specific guidance on the relative quality of funds. PPM hopes that by providing access to independent research and qualitative fund ratings, savers will be able to make more informed decisions about their fund selection beyond what is achievable by looking at historical risk and return figures alone.
Standard & Poor's Fund Services was selected by PPM to fulfil this role of independent provider of fund research and ratings based upon a number of factors including; fund rating experience, coverage of funds, accessibility of ratings information, methodology and surveillance. Alongside Standard & Poor's, a local Swedish ratings agency, Wassum Rating AB was also selected.
Mats Öberg, head of fund information at PPM comments, "We are happy to be able to improve the service to our 5,5 million pensions savers by providing rating information on the funds in our system. We believe that use of qualitative ratings such as Standard & Poors´ and Wassum may improve the quality of the selection of fund managers among our members and thereby also their future pension outcome."
Standard & Poor's Fund Management Rating are interview based fund ratings carried out by a team of experienced fund research analysts. Less than 20% of funds achieve a Fund Management Rating graded AAA, AA or A. The ratings are based on the funds investment process and managements consistency of approach requiring an in-depth understanding of the people, the philosophy, and process used to achieve performance now and in the future. For more information about Standard & Poor's Fund Management Ratings please go to www.funds-sp.com
The ratings will be published on the PPM website www.ppm.nu from early next year and approximately 200 funds will have a rating.
For more information please contact the press office.
Press Office
London: (44) 20 7176 8176
fsmedia@standardandpoors.com
Doris Keicher, Frankfurt: (49) 69 33999 225
doris_keicher@standardandpoors.com
Nuria Garcia, Madrid: (34) 911 803 225
Nuria_Garcia@standardandpoors.com
Armelle Sens, Paris: (33) 1 4420 6740
Armelle_Sens@standardandpoors.com
Ulrika Renstad, Stockholm: (46) 8 4405914
ulrika_renstad@standardandpoors.com
Definition
Standard & Poor's Fund Management Ratings are based on an evaluation of quantitative (historic performance, volatility, and portfolio construction) and qualitative (management, corporate status, and investment process) factors that contribute to long-term performance. The rating A to AAA in a fund-of-hedge funds reflects Standard & Poor's opinion as to a fund's quality based on its investment process, team's experience, control of risks and consistency of performance relative to its objectives. For further details and definitions of our new Absolute return Fund Ratings, please visit www.funds-sp.com
Press Office Contacts:
London Media Hotline: +44 20 7176 3605
Paris: +33 1 44 20 6740
Frankfurt: +49 69 33999 225
Milan: +39 02 72 111 245
Madrid: +34 91 389 6944
Moscow: +7 495 783 4017
Stockholm: +46 8 440 5914
media_europe@standardandpoors.com
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