Inflation

GLOBAL - The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has warned low interest rates across the globe are a threat to world financial stability.

Emerging market debt funds saw outflows in March but concerns over the strength of the developed world pushed investors back, as Lynn Strongin Dodds reports.

UK pension fund demand for inflation caps in the options market is so low experts say a "catalyst" is needed to level out the market.

Rising inflation would prove beneficial to FTSE100 pension schemes if it exceeded current level by just 1.4 percentage points, research reveals.

GLOBAL - The emerging markets and commodities boom along with the effects of the economic stimulus packages mean pension schemes have found themselves struggling to make sense of inflation expectations, a new report suggests.

UK - Only 15% of pension schemes have 50% or more inflation-linked assets matching their liabilities, suggesting most are structurally underhedged, research shows.

Scottish & Newcastle pension scheme members are asking government to investigate Heineken over claims the brewer reneged on its promise to provide discretionary pension increases each year.

Joe Roseman on inflation peril

Interest rate hedges by pension funds fell by 24% over the first quarter of the year, hit by a difficult swap market and stale funding levels, F&C reports.

CHINA - Chinese growth raced ahead 9.7% in the first quarter of 2011, while inflation hit its highest level since 2008.