Russia’s banking system has learnt the lessons of the 1998 crisis but there is still a long way to go before it matches the success of banks in the developed world.

Economic growth has been lifting the banking sector over the past year but the results have been varied. Ben Aris reports from Moscow.

The fear of pension funds falling into deficit is a very real one. With no single solution on the radar, funds need to look at all the services available to help with their structure and strategies. Dan Barnes reports.
Times are hard in the pensions fund business. The UK government launched the Pension Protection Fund earlier in the year in an attempt to ensure final salary pension funds can still pay the scheme members should the fund be in deficit.

1. The impact is positive. As an organisation that is short dollars on an ongoing basis (a number of our key operational expenses, such as jet fuel, are priced in dollars and we are in the middle of a large fleet expansion programme, which is also priced in dollars), we have and, in line with our rolling hedging policies, continue to take advantage of the weaker dollar against the euro and sterling.

1. Not a lot of effect on treasury operations but because a lot of our business operations are in the US or are dollar functional, a declining dollar is not good for our shareholders who hold our shares as a sterling investment.

1. The weakening of the dollar has been felt in two areas:
a) a reduction in the growth of the group’s earnings arising in dollars when translated into sterling. This exposure is not hedged and the effect is, therefore, carried through to the bottom line;

1. Higher interest rates typically affect the valuation of utilities because they are considered defensive stocks, and tend to have higher leverage and dividends than companies in other industries, so share value will be affected unless you can provide the market with a growth story. Companies will begin to look for growth rather than a yield play.

1. The most important microeconomic impact would be the change of discount factor. On the investor side, that may imply different pricing leading to portfolio reallocations.

1. A potential increase in interest rates – especially in real rates – might lead to repercussions on the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) capital markets at three levels: