The Pensions Regulator has issued a statement to employers sponsoring final salary pension schemes about the impact of the current economic climate.

INDIA - India's New Pension System (NPS), to be opened to the public on 1 April 2009, has set out its proposed investment policy and member options for the first time.

MERCER has appointed Jos Vermeulen as a senior consultant and principal within its financial strategy group.

Zurich has entered the group risk market with the launch of Zurich Corporate Risk.

US- BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) has taken a stake in Northern Lights Ventures, a US-based private equity group that invests in and provide strategic resources to smaller money managers.

US - CalPERS has been in contact with US president Barack Obama's transition team as it looks for ways to allocate funds it has earmarked towards infrastructure projects.

SWEDEN - The Third Swedish National Pension Fund, AP3, has announced an end of year loss of SEK44.8bn (US$5bn), equivalent to a 19.8% decline in assets, blaming too high an exposure to equity risk.

US - Global investors’ confidence jumped by 12 points for the second month in a row but still remains lower than the average levels seen during the first part of 2008, according to the State Street’s Global Markets’ Confidence Index.

GLOBAL - A global alliance comprising 34 law firms from more than 21 countries has been formed in Madrid in reaction to the global fraud allegedly committed by Bernard Madoff.

EUROPE - The best investment strategy in retirement is to hold a significant proportion of pension assets in equity early on in retirement and to switch progressively to bond holdings and annuities over time, a report commissioned by the European Fund...