ITALY - Lamberto Dini, the author of the 1995 Italian pension reform, has slammed a government proposal to transfer employees' final indemnity payments to the national institute of social welfare (INPS).

ALTERNATIVE assets under management worldwide grew to $1.26trn (£675bn) during 2005, Watson Wyatt research shows.

NETHERLANDS - In a move to concentrate more on its core pension activities, the €10bn Grafische Bedrijfsfondsen (GBF) is to outsource its back-office investment activities and personnel to KAS BANK.

US - The California's Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) has approve principles to close its US$20bn long term funding gap and reach 100% funding.

B&CE BENEFIT Schemes will host a debate on pensions at the Labour Party annual conference later this month.

US - ABN AMRO Asset Management has appointed Thomas Leavitt president and CEO of its North American operations, effective immediately.

UK - "The proposed National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS) is the best model for creating a simple pensions scheme for those who are currently not saving," according to the Investment Management Association (IMA) in its response to the government White...

GLOBAL - Exclusive research carried out by Global Pensions has revealed a significant split in how pension funds across the globe view current accounting standards.

THE GOVERNMENT must not bow to union demands for ‘unnecessary' new employment rights, the Confederation of British Industry says.

THE BOARD of the Pension Protection Fund has published a consultation document setting out proposals for the 2007/08 risk based levy.