Shell pension fund cuts equity exposure by 10 percentage points
Shell’s €26bn pension fund in the Netherlands, addressing concerns over low bond-market transaction liquidity and a sudden change in market sentiment, last year cut its equity allocation by 10 percentage points to 26%.In its 2015 annual report, the scheme’s chairman, Garmt Louw, said he was worried about central banks’ “experimental” policies, as well as China’s economic slowdown.The pension fund, after lowering its risk profile, saw its required funding level drop from 128% to 124%.Its coverage ratio stood at 123% at the end of last year. The pension fund said it temporarily reinvested the assets in short-term government bonds, which are to be replaced with fixed income instruments with a longer duration at a later stage.In the meantime, it has increased exposure to a “more offensive” sustainable growth strategy within its equity portfolio, by 5% to 35%.It said the strategy focused on investments in larger companies expected to grow consistently over the long term.Last year, equity investments generated 7.2%, with Europe and the Pacific Rim delivering the best results.The pension fund cited its strategic allocation to low-volatility equity, “combined with a defensive, stable, dividend income strategy”.The scheme reported a net return of 4.4%.Indirect real estate, returning nearly 13%, was the best-performing asset class.Fixed income holdings, due to depreciating local currencies in emerging markets, returned 0.9%.The pension fund said falling oil prices had dampened returns on its high-yield credit portfolio, and that it had re-allocated part of its credit holdings to “disintermediation assets”, responding to banks’ withdrawal from traditional roles such as mortgages lending.According to the 2015 annual report, it increased its allocation to residential mortgages by €250m.The scheme’s private equity holdings returned 4.9%, short of the benchmark’s 16.5% return over the same period.The board attributed this underperformance to the “large difference” between its actual portfolio and the available benchmark due to “a ‘vintage year’ effect”.Hedge fund holdings returned 0.9%, an outperformance of 0.6 percentage points.The Shell pension fund granted a conditional indexation of 0.2% last year, as well as an additional 0.1% on 1 February 2016.
According to Police MasterSergeant Edzel Ray Casia of the Concepcion police station, the road mishaphappened at 6:20 p.m. The Parejaoses were walking home. Bansa hit the Parejaoses whileavoiding a collision with a pickup running in the opposite direction, saidCasia. The Parejaos were residents ofBarangay Bunglas while Bansa and Lumawod were from Barangay Tipacla, Ajuy,Iloilo. ILOILO – A wayward tricycle hit apublic elementary school teacher in Barangay Agnaga, Concepcion, Iloilo. The tricycle driver, 25-year-oldAdonis Bansa, and his passenger Rachelle Lumawod were hurt, also.
Norman Lewis Gellert, age 86 of Guilford, IN passed away Sunday, April 17, 2016 at St. Andrews Health Campus in Batesville, IN. Norman was born on February 23, 1930 in Harrison, OH and was the son of Albert & Gladys (Renck) Gellert. Visitation will be Thursday, April 21, 2016 from 5:00- 8:00pm at Dearborn Hills United Methodist Church. Funeral Services will be Friday, April 22, 2016 at 10:00am at the church with Pastor Scott Stephans officiating. Burial will follow services in Gibson Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to Dearborn Hills United Methodist Church Memorial Fund or Shriners Hospital in Cincinnati c/o Jackman Kercheval Meyers Funeral Home, P.O. Box 513, Harrison, OH 45030. Online condolences at www.jkmfuneralhome.com Norman was a 1948 graduate of Guilford High School. He was a farmer, school bus driver for Sunman Dearborn School Corp and worked in both Insurance and Real Estate. He was a member of Dearborn Hills United Methodist Church, the Bright Lions Club, was on the board for the Dearborn County Planning Commission, Lawrenceburg Library and Dearborn County Community Foundation.
Norman is survived by his wife Lois (Blasdel) Gellert, who he married on May 10, 1952 in Bright, IN. He is also survived by his children Gary Gellert (Laura) of Guilford, IN, Terry Gellert (Linda) of Greenfield, IN and Connie Shipman (Keith) of Guilford, IN. He will also be missed by his grandchildren Blaine, Cory, & Trey Gellert, Susan Ketcham, Lucy, & Grant Gellert, Kyle, Carson & Klay Shipman along with his great grandchildren Ostyn, Ryker, Logan, Levi, & Sophia Gellert, Alex & Jackson Ketcham and his brother Dale Gellert of Aurora, IN. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother Donald Ray Gellert.
Greensburg, In. — After days of social media chatter, rumors were confirmed today that the Greensburg Waffle House would be closing permanently. Patrons expressed sadness and regret in the comments after the following letter to the public was posted on Facebook shortly before 11:00 Wednesday morning:–To our many friends and family in our community,With a heavy heart, we sadly announce the closing of the Waffle House of Greensburg. After many long weeks of deliberation and weighing the health of the owner, we decided that it was time to move on.Thank you to the city of Greensburg for enriching our lives and welcoming us into your community these last three decades. Over the years our family has made friends with some amazing people, and it is these friendships that make this decision so difficult.Our customers and especially our employees, past and present, will always remain in our hearts. Although this may be the end to this chapter or our lives, Greensburg has and will continue to be our home. Thank you to everyone who has made our lives special.Yours Truly,Robin Sowders
Lucille C. Simon, 82, of Osgood passed away at 12 noon, Friday, January 31, 2020 at her home. She was born near Millhousen in Decatur County on March 15, 1937 the daughter of Dave and Elizabeth Effing Schwering. She was married to Charles Simon on October 16, 1957 and he survives. Other survivors include four sons Tony (Sandi) Simon, Mike (Janice) Simon, Joe (Renee) Simon, and Paul (Beth) Simon all of Osgood; three daughters Janet (Joe) Wagner, and Jennifer (Kevin) Ricke both of Osgood, and Sandy (Paul) Wenning of Greensburg; one brother Dennis (Janet) Schwering of Greensburg; two sisters Evelyn Johannigman of Millhousen, and Patricia (Gene) Simon of Osgood; 22 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, her daughter Julie and husband Mark Eckstein, her grandson Scott Singleton, great-grandson Seth Holland, brothers Daniel, Tom, and Sam Schwering, and her sister Estella Merkel. Mrs. Simon was a 1955 graduate of Napoleon High School and was well known in the Jac-Cen-Del Schools where she worked as a cook at the high school for 27 years, retiring in 2010. In her spare time Lucille enjoyed being mom and grandma to her large family, and working in her garden and flowers. Lucille was a member of the St. Maurice Catholic Church in Napoleon where she participated in the Mary and Martha Circle. Mass of Christian Burial will be on Wednesday, February 5th at 11am at the St. Maurice Catholic Church in Napoleon with Father John Geis officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be on Tuesday from 4pm to 8pm at the Stratton-Karsteter Funeral Home in Versailles with Rosary services beginning at 3:30pm. Memorials may be given to the St. Maurice Catholic Church in care of the funeral home.
Andy Murray criticised world number one Novak Djokovic for staging the Adria Tour exhibition tournament without adopting any COVID-19 precautions.The Scot’s criticism has come after the Serbian and three other players tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki also returned positive tests after playing in the Balkan tournament.Players were seen hugging at the net, playing basketball, posing for pictures and partying like they did in pre-COVID-19 days.Murray said he hoped the players and their family members who tested positive recovered soon and added that the tournament should not have gone ahead in hindsight.“Obviously, it’s not surprising how many players have tested positive when you see the scenes and the images and the videos from the tournament and the players party with no social distancing in place,” Murray said on Tuesday.“I’ve seen some people say this puts the U.S. Open in doubt, but the measures and the protocols they have in place are completely different to what was going on in Serbia and Croatia. “For a start, there will be no fans and the players will now know we can all be affected by this. It doesn’t matter who you are, we need to respect the rules.”The players, however, did not break any government protocols in Serbia or Croatia with both countries easing lockdown measures weeks before the event.On Tuesday Murray enjoyed a winning return to action as he beat Liam Broady in the “Battle of the Brits’’ charity tournament at the national tennis centre in west London.The twice Wimbledon champion and former world number one eased to a 6-2 6-2 victory over the British number six in his first competitive match since the Davis Cup Finals in November.The week-long event was organised by Murray’s brother Jamie while professional tennis remains suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was being played behind closed doors with strict health protocols in place.While there were chair umpires, players picked up their own balls and towels and they did not change ends.The event was raising money for Britain’s National Health Service.There were also wins in London for British number one Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund on the opening day.RelatedPosts COVID-19: NCAA to revoke erring airlines licence over non-compliance FRSC to Schools: We’ll arrest, prosecute drivers who flout COVID-19 rules Djokovic clinches fifth Italian Open title Murray will face Edmund in his next round-robin match.“It was OK. I served well throughout the match. Didn’t hit the ball that well from the back of the court, wasn’t timing the ball well,” he said.“But, it was okay. For a first match in seven months and not been practising much? So, it was alright.”“Last time I picked up my own balls was when I was about 17. Although we do it all the time in practice.”The ATP Tour was halted in early March as nations closed borders and imposed lockdowns to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.Last week the ATP and the women’s WTA issued revised calendars for the resumption of the circuit from August.Reuters/NAN.Tags: Andy MurrayCOVID-19Novak Djokovic
In a 7-5 loss to the Gophers Friday, UW goaltender Alex Rigsby had a rough night, but made up for it with a 25-save shutout in the Badgers\’ 5-0 win the next day.[/media-credit]MINNEAPOLIS – Normally five goals should be enough to win a hockey game.For the Wisconsin women’s hockey team five goals was morethan enough to defeat conference rival Minnesota Saturday afternoon. But fivewas just a bit short Friday night when the Badgers suffered their first loss7-5.Minnesota (6-5-0, 3-5-0 WCHA) gave Wisconsin (9-1-0, 7-1-0WCHA) a huge fight in its first road game of the season, and the Badgers were notgoing to let the Gophers give them two losses on their first road series.Sophomore defenseman Stefanie McKeough scored the winninggoal 11 minutes into the first period, and senior forward Meghan Duggan’sshorthanded goal displayed the Badgers domination over the Gophers Saturdaynight.On the penalty kill, Duggan blocked a shot, picked it up ona breakaway and slipped it past Minnesota goalie Noora R?ty.The UW forwards blocked shots all night, helping out thedefense, and ultimately created more scoring opportunities for themselves. Headcoach Mark Johnson was pleased to see his team doing all the little things towin the game.“That’s all the little things that don’t get on the scoresheet that make a difference,” Johnson said. “When your players are willing todo that, it frustrates the other team a little bit and it just keeps the puck outof your net.”“I love when the forwards block shots,” added sophomore defensemanSaige Pacholok. “It makes our jobs easier as a defense and for thegoalies too. That gets the team riled up too.”Junior forward Hilary Knight also notched two goals on thenight, both of which seemed like impossible shots to make.Both shots came from R?ty’s right side, as Knight shottoward the near post and somehow slipped the puck between the post and R?tywhere an opening seemed non-existent.“I saw that she was on the post and just shot it rightthere,” Knight said. “I think she was anticipating a pass across so I got luckyon that one.”“Coaches always harp on shooting,” Johnson said. “They don’task how they go in, they just ask how many you got. A couple crazy angled shotsbut it was nice to get a couple bounces. It was a good solid effort[Saturday].”While the amount of goals the Badgers scored did not changebetween the two games, freshman goaltender Alex Rigsby’s confidence in goalmade all the difference.Earning her second shut out of the season, Rigsby’sperformance in net looked relaxed and strong.“It was a lot different than [Friday],” Rigsby said.“[Friday] was a rough day for me. This was huge for me to come back and be ableto help my team out and get this great victory over Minnesota and just get ashutout on the way.“I felt a lot different tonight because I figured the worstwas out of the way.”Friday night certainly was a rough night for the squad.The Badgers were in the box three times on the night, butthe Gophers had seven penalties. If it’s any indication how intense the rivalryis between these teams, fists were flying on the ice. That’s not somethinggenerally seen in a women’s hockey game.The pace of the game was higher and everything just seemedmore intense against Minnesota – the toughest team Wisconsin has faced so farthis season.Although Duggan got things started off for the Badgers threeminutes into the first period on a powerplay goal, the Gophers just seemed tobe too much for Rigsby’s first road start scoring three goals in the firstperiod.“You look at the first three goals, two of them were directresults of turnovers at their blue line,” Johnson said of the first period. “Wetalked about eliminating that as much as possible because they’re a goodtransition team. The third goal, our goaltender slips and falls and the girlshoots in the empty net. It was a pretty good period other than that. We playedreally well. We controlled a lot of the tempo and the pace.”Sophomore goaltender Becca Ruegsegger relieved Rigsby forthe rest of the game, but it didn’t go much better.Only seven seconds into the second period, Minnesota’s EmilyWest scored her second goal of the night, putting Minnesota up 4-1. Despitebeing down 4-1, the Badgers had a strong showing in the second period scoringfour goals.Every time Wisconsin scored another goal, Minnesota had aresponse. Fifteen minutes into the second period Minnesota’s Sarah Ericksonslipped the game winning goal between Reugsegger and the near post, sealing aGopher upset despite the two following goals the Badgers scored.“I think we could have scored four or five more in thesecond period,” Johnson said. “We missed a couple of empty nets, but we had alot of momentum going at that time. When you have the momentum like that youwant to capitalize and every time we capitalize and put ourselves in a prettygood position, we stubbed our toe and they came down and kept the lead.”Wisconsin still played a tough game Friday night, but their fivegoals were just not enough compared to Minnesota’s seven.Taking their first loss of the season was rough andemotional, but the Badgers are confident they will be able to fight through anyloss and show they cannot be taken lightly. “It’s been emotional,” Pacholok said. “You have to fightthrough the adversity. That makes good teams, battling through a first loss onthe weekend.”
Published on November 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman With Kayla Alexander providing a dominant force in the paint en route to a career game, the pressure on her teammates would seemingly be lessened. With Alexander making shot after shot, the other four Syracuse players on the floor should have a little more room for error.Instead, Orange head coach Quentin Hillsman said the pressure only increases. When Alexander’s playing that well, SU’s guards have an obligation to get her the ball at all costs. ‘I think it’s probably more pressure, honestly, because they have to get her the ball and make sure they’re not turning the ball over trying to get it to her,’ Hillsman said. ‘I think it becomes where the other four players on the floor know that she’s rolling, they have to get her the ball.’Syracuse (5-0) fed the ball to Alexander in the low post as much as possible on Saturday, as the senior center scored a career-high 33 points to lead the Orange to a 90-57 win over Binghamton (3-2). Alexander finished the game 12-of-14 from the floor, and also grabbed 10 rebounds, seven of which came on the defensive glass. And to put an exclamation point on the day, Alexander also scored her 1,000th-career point, becoming the 21st player in program history to reach that mark.SU got off to a sluggish start, as it let the Bearcats go on a 10-2 scoring run early in the game. A La’Shay Taft 3-pointer closed the Orange deficit to just seven, and then two straight baskets by Alexander brought Syracuse to within three.AdvertisementThis is placeholder textHillsman said that Binghamton got off to a quick start, while his team struggled to get into an offensive groove.‘We just missed some shots early, and I thought they made a 3 and we fouled them in transition,’ Hillsman said. ‘They made two or three shots, and that was the key to the game. Obviously, when they start out early making shots, you have to be careful.’Junior Shanee Williams’ first 3-pointer of the season gave the Orange its first lead of the game, and also sent Syracuse on a 11-2 scoring run that eventually gave it a seven-point lead. The Orange took a 17-point lead into halftime, and Binghamton never pulled closer than 11 for the rest of the game.Sophomore guard Rachel Coffey came off the bench and scored nine points and had a career-high five assists. Coffey’s a part of the ‘point guard by committee’ group, as Hillsman continues to find a stable option to replace Erica Morrow and Tasha Harris.Taft started at point guard on Saturday, and Hillsman said Coffey needs to take advantage of the time she sees on the court, just as she did against Binghamton.‘She’s playing well. And that’s what she needs to do, when she get the opportunities, she needs to play well,’ Hillsman said. ‘She had an opportunity to step up and play good, and she had a great game.’The Orange’s rout against Binghamton was the latest in SU’s opening five games of the season. Syracuse is blowing out its opponents, winning its games by an average of 31 points.Still, Hillsman said his team is playing well because of its talent level, not because SU’s opponents have been inferior. But Syracuse will be challenged to a greater degree this week when it plays at Boise State and then faces Arizona and BYU in the Hukilau Invitational next weekend.‘We’re just playing well. I really believe that we’re playing well and we’re making a priority on getting the ball inside,’ Hillsman said. ‘That’s what we’ve been doing. We’ve had opportunities to get the ball inside, and it’s been the thing that we’ve really been preaching, to get the ball to the low post.’cjiseman@syr.edu Facebook Twitter Google+
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The Rathmore man is suffering from a shoulder injury.Kieran O’Leary is also a big doubt for the semi-final against Tipperary in Semple Stadium on Sunday.He has a knee injury that could see him miss the entire Championship.
England international Jack Singh Brar held off a determined charge by Jake Burnage to win the Hampshire Salver by a stroke. The trophy is awarded to the player with the best total from the 72 holes played during the Selborne Salver at Blackmoor Golf Club and the Hampshire Hog at North Hants. Singh Brar, from Remedy Oak, Dorset, was five under for the two events, winning the Selborne Salver in a play-off and taking second place in the Hog, where he holed a vital and testing 7ft putt on the last. It kept him just in front of Burnage, an England A squad member from Saunton, Devon, who swept up the leaderboard in the Hog with a score of seven-under par and a five shot win. He had been 18th and three-over par after the Selborne Salver. “I had no idea of the scores but I had a putt of about 7ft on the last and I knew it would be pretty important,” said Singh Brar. “I didn’t think anyone could shoot seven-under for the two rounds. That was really impressive from Jake.” This was Singh Brar’s first UK tournament of the season and he commented: “It was nice to get the win. I played really solid throughout the whole competition. I didn’t do anything spectacular, but I didn’t do anything to hinder myself either.” His campaign began slowly, with two bogeys at the start of his first round at Blackmoor, but he was soon in the thick of it. Three consecutive birdies set him on course for a score of three-under 66 and in the afternoon he added level par 69, crucially holing a 30-ft birdie putt on the last to force a play-off with Matt Kippen (Enmore Park, Somerset). Singh Brar won at the first extra hole, the 10th, setting up his par with an excellent drive round the corner of the dog leg. In the Hampshire Hog, the 20-year-old continued his steady progress with rounds of level par 70 and 68, to give him his first win of the season – and to underline a string of impressive results. He toured Australia in the early season, taking second place in the prestigious Avondale Amateur, reaching the last 16 in the Australian amateur and the quarter finals of the New South Wales amateur. Back in Europe he reached the match play stages of the Spanish amateur. Meanwhile, the Hampshire Hog turned into a showcase for Burnage, who scored the third lowest aggregate in the 61 year history of the event – and one better than Olympic champion Justin Rose achieved when he won the title at his home club in 1995. “I drove the ball well, hit some quality iron shots and holed a lot of good putts,” summed up Burnage. He had six birdies in each round, including three in a row from the sixth in the morning, where his longest putt was just 3ft. “I feel I’ve been knocking on the door for a little while and it’s nice to get the breakthrough. Hopefully I can now push on from here,” added Burnage, who was fourth in the recent Duncan Putter. Click here for the Selborne Salver scores Click here for the Hampshire Hog and Hampshire Salver scores Caption: Jack Singh Brar (left) with the Hampshire Salver and Jake Burnage with the Hampshire Hog. (Image courtesy Mark Sandom) 17 Apr 2017 Singh Brar withstands a charge to win Hampshire Salver 