GLOBAL - The World Gold Council (WGC) has launched a website to provide the pensions industry with information on gold investments.

THE WORLD Gold Council has launched of a website to provide information to the pensions industry.

UK - Arlington Securities has stated real estate investment trusts (REITs) are likely to be "of limited benefit" to institutional investors looking to invest in property for diversification reasons.

ITALY - Nine industry-wide Italian pension funds have issued tenders for the management of a default option that will replicate returns posted by final indemnity funds and offer capital and minimum yield guarantees.

TAIWAN - Reform of the Taiwanese pension system for public employees must focus on reducing the NT$8trn (US$245.4bn) sum the government will be forced to spend on pensions in the coming years, said Lu Ming-tai, director of the department for retirement...

WOMEN who take a career break to raise children could be risking financial insecurity in retirement, research by Investec Private Bank warns.

ALMOST three quarters of independent financial advisers believe that establishing a better income in retirement proposition for clients is essential in 2007, latest research shows.

SCHEMES have seen investment gains of over £10bn wiped out by falls in the value of the US dollar, Professional Pensions can reveal.

PENSION deficits of FTSE 100 companies fell by £20bn this year thanks to rising stock markets and are likely to shrink even further in 2007, Watson Wyatt claims.

Professional Pensions asked some of the industry's main figures for their defining pension events of 2006. Here we rank their top 10 answers