AUSTRALIA - The Future Fund, set up by the ruling Liberal government in May last year to combat the the A$98bn deficit in civil servant superannuations, was officially launched by treasurer Peter Costello in Melbourne today.

Banks urged to show pension liabilities; ITV's pension deficit could scupper fledgling NTL bid; No guarantee of a bullet-proof pension; LDI growth expected to soar in UK

EUROPE - A report issued recently by Standard & Poor's (S&P) Ratings Services has claimed the transition to IFRS has had a "pronounced impact" on the balance sheets of western European banks, "through the emergence of considerable unfunded obligations"...

FINANCIAL ADVICE improves annual pension income by £3000, an experiment by Axa reveals.

THE PENSIONS Regulator has added a module on defined contribution schemes to its online trustee toolkit.

UK - Of the employers who currently provide defined benefit (DB) pensions, 46% do not expect to provide any staff or executives with DB pension provision within the next five years, the second Alexander Forbes Financial Services' pension confidence survey...

EUROPE - A shift towards performance fees and a more long term approach to relationships with investment managers were two key trends noted by the INVESCO European Institutional Asset Management Survey (EIAMS) 2006.

BELGIUM - Fortis Investments' assets under management (AuM) are up 10% from December 2005, totalling €116bn at the end of the third quarter.

THE SWITCH to international financial reporting standards has revealed European banks face "significant financial risks" from their pension liabilities, Standard & Poor's says.

LONDON PENSIONS Fund Authority investment director Suzanne Ross has resigned after only five weeks in her post.