Employers want rid of pension liabilities; Postal talks falter; Rock borrows extra £3bn from Bank

GLOBAL - Returns for global listed property could be as high as 8-12% over the coming year, according to information released by ING Clarion.

Full details of next year's UK Pensions Awards will be unveiled in two weeks' time but, before then, Professional Pensions wants its readers to help choose the providers that should be vying for the prizes.

CANADA - An employee association has called on the Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions to examine how strictly legislation was being implemented claiming employees were ‘being seriously adversely affected'.

UK - Pension fund buyouts and trapped surpluses were high on company agendas, according to data released by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

UK - The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), has shown its commitment to shareholder engagement by backing the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI).

AUSTRALIA - Investments taking environmental, social, ethical or governance issues into account outgrew mainstream investing by more than double last year, according to the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA).

A further six firms are in talks to join an initiative to enable straight-through processing for the institutional pensions market.

THE TRUSTEES of the Associated British Foods Pension Scheme have appointed Wilky Fund Management to run a £95m direct property portfolio.

US/CANADA - Watson Wyatt has announced it would spin off its multi retirement businesses into two separate companies.