Investment

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.

The National Association of Pension Funds has elected two members to its 19-strong investment council.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has been forced to undertake an exhaustive review of its client base after the Financial Reporting Council discovered it was acting as auditor to a company while providing actuarial services to its defined benefit pension scheme....

Public sector workers earn £136 a week more in pay and pensions than their private sector counterparts, Office for National Statistics data proves.

UGANDA - Uganda's National Social Security Fund is signing on new asset managers to help it manage its equities portfolio.