Asia

India - The public launch of the New Pension Scheme has been delayed because of impending elections.

CHINA/UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - The Bank of New York Mellon has launched a sovereign advisory board targeting sovereign pension plans, wealth funds, central banks and sovereign owned entities.

INDIA- Franklin Templeton Investments has restructured its management team in its Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) and India divisions.

JAPAN- Japan's Government Pensions Investment Fund (GPIF) saw a Y5.7trn (US$58.4bn) decline in assets in the fourth quarter of 2008 on the back of weak equity returns.

ASIA - Morgan Stanley has expanded its transition management team as it looks to grow its Asian market presence.

INDIA - India's New Pension System (NPS), to be opened to the public on 1 April 2009, has set out its proposed investment policy and member options for the first time.

Lynn Strongin-Dodds explores what the future holds for real estate investment trusts (REITs) in light of the current economic crisis

JAPAN - Japanese defined benefit (DB) pension funds are struggling to preserve strong funding ratios, despite having entered the third quarter of 2008 in a relatively strong position, a Greenwich Associates' study has found.

ASIA-PACIFIC - The pension systems in many Asian countries need swift reforms to be viable in the future, a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says.

JAPAN - A move by the Japanese government to allow employees to match employer contributions in defined contribution (DC) plans will accelerate the growth of the retirement savings vehicles, according to Towers Perrin.