Investment

UK - Babcock International Group has chosen Friends Provident to administer a single defined contribution pension scheme for employees without access to its existing defined benefit schemes.

Last week, I bemoaned that, while successive governments had regulated defined benefit schemes out of existence, there had never been an investigation into how all this regulation came about and how such mistakes could be avoided in the future.

Hermes and the Universities Superannuation Scheme have filed a request with the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeals for an investigation over Canon's tender offer worth €730m (£642m) to buy Océ, the biggest European printer maker.

UK - The Conservatives will aim to restore the health of occupational pensions, shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May said.

More than two thirds defined contribution members are reluctant or unprepared to make active investment decisions about their pension, research by AllianceBernstein finds.

Russell Investments has been appointed to a panel of investment consultants advising the Pension Protection Fund.

Nine out of 10 companies intend to seek professional advice on the impact of pension reform, according to the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority.

IRELAND - The National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) will receive €250m (US$340m) worth of Bank of Ireland (BoI) ordinary shares in lieu of a cash payment of this year's coupon.

GLOBAL - Global pension assets totalled US$29.5trn at year end 2009, up 14% from the previous year, according to a report by the International Financial Services London.

The Pensions Regulator has filed a £2.1bn claim in a Canadian court against Nortel Networks.