Global

The Society of Pension Consultants has set up a network to give in-house administrators access to its expertise.

Final salary scheme pensions will be up to £24,000 a year more than money purchase payouts under the £1.4m savings limit.

GLOBAL - Barclays Global Investors has launched two currency funds - a sterling fund and a US equity fund - aimed at pension schemes.

GLOBAL - European and Japanese equity markets will outperform their US counterparts over the next 12 months, JPMorgan Fleming predicts.

GLOBAL - Global pension assets have bounced back, registering their strongest performance since 1999, with total institutional pension fund assets in 11 major markets growing by more than 12%.

GLOBAL - In an exceptionally speedy reversal of fortune, General Motors has almost hauled its US hourly and salaried pension plans back into the black.

UK - The Czech government has revealed plans to set up a notional defined contribution scheme for its first pillar pensions in the mould of the Swedish system.

GLOBAL - New measures to ensure safer superannuation schemes have been brought before parliament by the Australian government.

GLOBAL - Most analysts say the signs augur well for continued global performance in 2004, particularly for equities in relation to bonds.

GLOBAL - Fund managers are forecasting modest equity returns over the coming 12 months - their most optimistic annual prediction for two years.