POPULAR non-listed property vehicles underperformed direct property investments during 2005, new figures reveal.

UK - Goldman Sachs in the US has vigorously defended the use of pre-hedging in transition management, providing a strong indication that any attempt to ban the practice globally would be met with heavy opposition on its part.

US - Inflationary fears have been put to bed with the US equity markets posting solid gains during the third quarter of 2006 mainly due to declining oil prices, according to Mercer Investment Consulting.

THE ACCOUNTING Standards Board is set to amend pensions accounting standard FRS17 in a bid to bring it more in line with international conventions.

INVESTMENT banks are planning to launch a longevity risk market as early next year, PP can reveal.

PENSIONS have been chancellor Gordon Brown's biggest ever policy failure, the Conservative Party claims.

UK/US - Aon has proposed cuts to both its UK and US defined benefit plans worth US$60m annually, with UK members facing the termination of future salary and service benefits.

THE COMBINED FRS17 deficit of the UK's 200 largest defined benefit pension schemes rose by £1bn in October to £52bn, Aon Consulting says.

GLOBAL - The Enhanced Analytics Initiative (EAI) has grown to twenty-one members representing €1.1trn in assets under management since its inception two years ago.

SWEDEN - The Premium Pension Authority (PPM) has hired Aon Consulting to further develop its online fund selection tool "Lotsen", which has been labelled a failure by some due to low usage by members since inception.