Regions

GLOBAL - Multinational companies are looking at innovative ways to redesign defined benefit schemes but will cut contributions by 10% in the process, research by Mercer suggests.

UK/GLOBAL - J.P. Morgan Asset Management has hired Mike O'Brien, BlackRock's former head of institutional business for EMEA, as its global head of the institutional client group.

US/EUROPE - Pension funds from Europe and the US have been given the go-ahead to proceed with a securities fraud lawsuit against Bank of America and Merrill Lynch.

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.

ASIA - Nikko Asset Management has hired the former Morgan Stanley Investment Management chief executive for Asia to help the Japanese firm continue to expand throughout the region.

GLOBAL - Just 16% of multinational companies feel their existing benefit plan governance structures are sufficient to meet current and anticipated future needs, research by Mercer shows.

UK/Global - Employees at AstraZeneca will strike on three dates in September in a row over cuts to its UK pension scheme, GMB says.

ASIA - Investors are underestimating the opportunities for Asian local currency bond markets, Legg Mason affiliate Western Asset Management believes.

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 (13 August - 20 August).

Contingent assets have been used in scheme funding arrangements in the UK for some time, but how popular are they overseas? Chris Panteli finds out.