Investment

Pensions have never been so popular, but only in the sense that they are getting so much attention. Every week someone is raising the danger flag and waving it with some ferocity in our faces.

Last week, PP reported some financiers believed accounting deficit figures and the actuarial profession were "mistrusted" by equity investors.

US low-cost passive investment giant Vanguard is launching its first 11 funds into the UK market this month.

CVC Capital Partners has decided not to make a counter-bid for Barclays Global Investors - a move which clears the way for the fund management firm's acquisition by BlackRock.

Over two-thirds of financial professionals believe that markets behave irrationally, a CFA Society of the UK survey reveals.

Henkel International - the Sellotape and Pritt Stick manufacturer - has appointed BlackRock to manage €2bn (£1.7bn) of assets across five of its pension funds on a fiduciary basis.

BlackRock has agreed to buy Barclays Global Investors in a cash and shares deal worth $13.5bn (£8.15bn).

The size of the deal is startling. The firm created by the merger of BlackRock and Barclays Global Investors - BlackRock Global Investors - will have assets under management of over $2.7trn and employ more than 9000 people in 24 different countries.

Are corporate bonds another bubble in the making or are they genuinely showing signs of a recovery?  Luke Hickmore discusses the current climate for corporate bonds and assesses whether now is the right time for investors to buy into this asset class...

It could not have been a worse week for defined benefit pension scheme provision in the UK.