RBS Reserve Management Trends 2006

RBS Reserve Management Trends 2006 is the latest edition of the world’s most authoritative review of central bank reserve management practice. In addition to a survey of 56 central banks, the 2006 edition contains an independent analysis of recent trends in reserve management including specialised articles by many of the leading experts in this field. RBS Reserve Management Trends 2006 is sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland. Reengineering reserve management The breakneck pace of reserve accumulation continues. And while some analysts and practitioners regard this relentless stockpiling as “business as usual”, central banks themselves do not. In fact, as RBS Reserve Management Trends 2006 reveals, reserve growth is triggering a profound recasting of the reserve management role. The 56 central banks participating in the new survey, which control assets of $1.9tn, confirm that reserve managers are investing in riskier assets, changing their benchmarks, outsourcing portions of their reserves and at the same time radically changing their management techniques. • What forces are driving these on-going changes? • How in fact is central banks’ changing risk appetite manifested? • What are the long-term implications of these profound changes? • Is the global monetary system increasingly divided into currency blocs? These are the questions the 2006 survey of central bank reserve managers seeks to answer. Key topics explored by central banks in their detailed (but anonymous) responses include: • How central banks use external managers; • Which “new” assets central banks have moved into over the last year; • How central banks are managing the increased risks; • How benchmarks and investment guidelines are changing; • How benchmarks are set; • How central banks account for gold in their portfolios; • Central banks increasing use of derivatives; • Major problems encountered by the official sector when using derivative products; • Which risks reserve mangers think will be most important in 2006. Table of contents Trends in reserve management – 2006 survey results Nick Carver, Central Banking Publications How global imbalances power reserve growth Paul Brione, Central Banking Publications Commodity funds for the future Jennifer Johnson-Calari and Arjan Berkelaar, World Bank Treasury Integrating swaps into the reserve management function John Wraith and Riccardo Rebonato, The Royal Bank of Scotland Doris Kutalek, Austrian National Bank A model of passive management Jan Schmidt, Michal Koblas and Ladislav Mochán, Czech National Bank Managing reserves in crisis and post-crisis economies: the Argentine case Pedro Rabasa, Central Bank of Argentina Accountancy’s golden puzzle Chris Sermon, PricewaterhouseCoopers The role of securities lending in reserve management Tim Young, York University Reserve statistics Statistical breakdown of currency composition, changes in holdings and key trends by region and country type.