Regions

GLOBAL - Have you missed the biggest stories in pensions this week? Find out below, as we list the top 10 most popular stories on www.globalpensions.com over the past seven days.

UK - GlaxoSmithKline's £900m ($1.5bn) buy-in deal last year would not have been possible without transition managers, said Martin Mannion, director of pensions finance, investments and risk.

EUROPE - Fauchier Partners, the institutional fund of hedge funds owned by BNP Paribas, has said the tripling of a withdrawal period on one product allows it to invest in a wider range of underlying managers.

EUROPE - Gearing equity mandates towards outperforming quarterly benchmarks could be undermining attempts to improve long-term investing, Aviva Investors says.

EUROPE - Yves Mersch, governor of the Banque centrale du Luxembourg and member of the European Central Bank council has warned Europe's banks they would not be rescued a second time.

KAZAKHSTAN - BTA Bank is to merge two pension funds with a company managing pension assets to create the country's second largest retirement plan.

US - President Barack Obama, in his speech unveiling $4trn in budget cuts yesterday, said he wanted to avoid drastic cuts to Social Security, but that the system needs reform to strengthen it over the long haul.

Lynn Strongin-Dodds reports how expected rate hikes and a belief the worst has passed for Europe is luring investors back to the euro

GLOBAL - The future impact of pension costs should be taken into account when evaluating the fiscal health of a country, three IMF officials said in a new report.

EUROPE - Proposed European Union plans to make scheme funding rules uniform across member states could force UK firms to pay off deficits faster, Towers Watson warns.