Investment

A national register of independent financial advisers willing to provide annuity advice for people with small pension pots should be created, a lobby group says.

GLOBAL - Worldwide investment fund assets increased 5.4% to €14.39trn (US$21.2trn) at the end of the second quarter of 2009 due to strong inflows, data from the European Fund and Asset Management Association revealed.

New UK life and pensions business at Standard Life has fallen 23% for the first nine months of 2009, compared to the same period last year.

Professional Pensions senior correspondent Giovanni Legorano interviewed BT Pension Scheme pension director Kevin O'Boyle at the National Association of Pension Funds annual conference

British Telecom Pension Scheme pensions director Kevin O'Boyle speaks to PP senior correspondent Giovanni Legorano about how an internal review led the fund to shift to a contract based scheme for the defined contribution members.

Employers and workers are being asked to submit their views on the default retirement age to feed into the official government review taking place next year.

EUROPE - The European Commission has adopted additional proposals clarifying the scope of the new European Supervisory Authorities.

GLOBAL - The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (Caisse) and AXA Private Equity have entered into a partnership aimed at helping Québec and European-based businesses expand internationally.

FRANCE - Investment returns at the Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR) are up 12.8% since the start of the year helping to bring its total assets to €31.9bn (US$47.2bn), the pension fund said.

The European Commission has adopted additional proposals clarifying the scope of the new European Supervisory Authorities.