Investment

Three-fifths of employers are set to review their pension arrangements ahead of the introduction of auto-enrolment and personal accounts from 2012, latest research from the Association of Consulting Actuaries reveals.

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 says.

The government is considering starting the personal accounts trustee corporation early in a bid to prepare for the 2012 reforms.

INDIA - The board of the Pension Regulatory Fund Development Authority (PFRDA) yesterday approved a proposal to manage companies' pension pots, said executive director Rani Nair.

UK - Barratt Developments has posted a £7.1m (US$11.6m) gain in income as a result of closing its defined benefit scheme to current employees.

CANADA - The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has committed C$39.8m (US$37.2m) to Canadian technology company GLV, as part of an ongoing programme to invest C$1.5bn in Quebec-based firms.

Widespread apathy towards private pension plans remains one of the biggest challenges facing the industry, research by Baring Asset Management reveals.

Investors are bringing retirement plans forward and buying annuities now to take advantage of the recent rally in equity markets, Hargreaves Lansdown says.

Barratt Developments has posted a £7.1m gain in income as a result of closing its defined benefit scheme to current employees.

UK - The government will fail to protect millions of Britons from poverty in old age unless it makes vital changes to the way in which it plans to introduce personal accounts, a Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce report...