Regions

GLOBAL - The extra returns for holding shares over risk-free assets will fall by nearly one third from present levels, making a reliance on equities by pension funds "a pretty dangerous strategy", according to new research by the London Business School....

Towers Watson; EIOPA; ATP; State Street; Janus Capital Group Inc; Transamerica Retirement Services; Mercer; T. Rowe Price; QIC

GLOBAL - Assets in the world's 13 largest pension markets hit a new high of $26trn at the end of 2010, up 12% during the year, new research by Towers Watson finds.

GLOBAL - Russell Investments has launched the Russell Stability Indexes which divide securities according to volatility and quality.

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.

US/CANADA - UK risk management firm PensionsFirst has launched a new division to provide advanced risk management services to public and private sector pension plans in North America.

GLOBAL - The world's leading sovereign wealth funds have been forced to reassess their investment strategies and risk management in the wake of turbulent financial markets, research by State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) shows.

BT Pension Scheme; Robeco; INTECH Investment Management; PwC; Mercer; Aon Hewitt; Neuberger Berman Group; Standard Life Investments; State Street Global Services

EUROPE/US - Pension funds and other institutional investors are shifting away from traditional equity and bond allocations in favour of alternative asset classes, research from bfinance shows.

EUROPE - An EU ruling to equalise annuity rates for men and women could be finalised as soon as 1 March.