Investment

The latest Professional Pensions Conjecture debate - to be held on September 29 -will look at the key issues surrounding delegated consulting.

BRAZIL - The government of Brazil has lifted the limits on pension fund investments, allowing up to 70% of assets to be allocated to equities and backing exposure to international markets.

It's a good job that John Sergeant was only presenting last week's Scheme of the Year Awards and not judging them. He would have been slightly conflicted as he was a member of two of the winning schemes (no prizes for guessing which ones) and his wife...

The Association of Independent Financial Advisers has issued a stark warning to the Financial Services Authority over the "unintended consequences" of applying proposals in the RDR to the corporate pensions market.

Scheme managers are split over whether the retirement age should be increased to 70.

Employers seeking to reduce costs should consider explicitly targeting employee benefits in a bid to mitigate the unintended consequences of pay cuts on pensions, a HSBC Actuaries and Consultants report says.

UK - Reforms introducing auto-enrolment, employer duties and personal accounts will be staged in over a three year period from 2012, the department for work and pensions said.

US - New York State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has prohibited New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF) from doing business with any investment adviser who made a political contribution to the state comptroller or a candidate for state comptroller....

NEW ZEALAND - The Government Superannuation Fund (GSF) in New Zealand saw its deficit jump 123% in the year ended June 30, the scheme said today.

Most employees expect to delay their retirement as a result of the recession, Aon Consulting research reveals.