Investment

UK/DENMARK - Global Pensions editor Raquel Pichardo-Allison speaks to Morten Nilsson, head of ATP's international operations about the Danish pension fund manager's UK expansion plans.

The Church in Wales has appointed Summit Global Investor Services to provide investment analytics services to the assets it manages.

US - New Jersey's pension fund should put more money in alternative investments such as private equity and real estate to boost returns and protect against stock losses, consultants told the State Investment Council.

FRANCE - A bid by French president Nicolas Sarkozy to raise the official retirement age from 60 to 62 by 2018 has been approved by the lower house of parliament.

Advisers are set to turn their backs on conventional annuities and recommend asset-backed alternatives as annuity rate crashes continue to plague retirees.

EUROPE - Multinationals with defined contribution plans in Eastern Europe are starting to favour pan-European vehicles instead, John Hall, head of the international consulting practice for EMEA at Mercer said.

Returns from commercial property mandates will remain moderate after last year's resurgence and a significant dip in values is unlikely, research from PRUPIM says.

UK pension funds are lagging behind their Scandinavian counterparts in allocating to alternative asset classes, a consultant says.

US - Governor Chris Christie has unveiled a proposed series of cuts across state pensions as he tries to shore up a deficit that sits at $46bn, and growing.

PERU - Peru's central bank has increased the amount pension funds can invest in international assets by two percentage points to 30% of their overall portfolios.