Employee Benefits

UK - Almost a third of trustees are choosing inappropriate investment options for defined contribution schemes, a leading consultant claims.

GLOBAL - Expatriate employees are now starting to feel the brunt of the shift from final salary pension schemes, according to a new survey by consultants, William M Mercer.

UK - Final salary schemes may become even less secure if the government presses ahead with new changes to the minimum funding requirement (MFR), according to consultants William M Mercer.

UK - The government is being urged to take radical action to simplify current pensions legislation, with industry groups claiming that over-regulation is "strangling" the industry.

UK - The UK should look to the US and Australian models which offer stakeholder-type provision for guidance, Watson Wyatt claims.

UK - Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt last week announced that shareholders are to be given the right to an annual vote on directors' pay, in a move that will strengthen links between pay and performance in the boardroom.

Many US workers favour defined contribution (DC) payment systems, but want their employers to administer them, according to Watson Wyatt's latest study.

The Independent Stakeholder Company warns that employees may miss out on a bonus of 12.2% when they pay contributions directly into stakeholder pensions from April.

Automotive services group Inchcape has rejected calls from its largest shareholder Guinness Peat Group (GPG) for it to enter into a controlled break-up - revealing instead it will return £45m to shareholders.

UK-based Inchcape Motors Pension Scheme has appointed Martin Currie Investment Management to actively manage its £7m Japanese equities mandate.