Investment

BlackRock has won its first full fiduciary mandate in the UK, having been appointed to run the £410m PA Consulting Group Pension Scheme.

Workers have been urged to start saving as soon as possible for their retirement in order to avoid unaffordable levels.

SINGAPORE - The Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC) reported losses of 20% on its investments today for the year ended March 31, but said it has since recovered half of the year's losses on the back of rising equity markets.

Jessops is set to sell its main operating company to a special purpose vehicle owned by its bank, pension scheme and an employee trust.

US - United States Commodity Funds (USCF) has listed a short oil fund on NYSE Arca, as the price of oil declines.

UK - Trustees have been urged to halt moves towards passive equity funds and reconsider the benefits of active investing, Hewitt Associates said.

BRAZIL - Brazilian pension funds may sell as much as 70bn reais ($39 billion) of government bonds after falling interest rates led regulators to lift limits on investing in non fixed-income assets, according to SulAmerica Investimentos.

Trustees have been urged to halt moves towards passive equity funds and reconsider the benefits of active investing, Hewitt Associates says.

Balanced pooled funds have strengthened further in August 2009 with a median return of 6.0%, latest CAPS pooled pension fund performance results from BNY Mellon Asset Servicing reveal.

Swisscanto is set to offer specialist fixed income and global equity to UK pension schemes for the first time following an internal strategic review.