Scheme contributions

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.

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

The part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland has cut its pension costs by £144m compared with the first half of last year.

The £16bn Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund's IAS19 deficit rocketed to more than £4bn in the first half of 2010.

Premier Foods aims to close its defined benefit pension schemes to new members by April, next year in a bid to tackle a £431m combined deficit.

UK - FTSE100 companies dramatically upped pension contributions last year to a record £17.5bn ($27.8bn), data from Lane Clark & Peacock reveals.

Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said his country must overhaul its pension system, including raising the retirement age and changing the way payments are calculated.

High earners who contribute 15% of salary to a pension could be £18,000 a year worse off following the raft of tax changes introduced by the government, Punter Southall warns.

The Shell Contributory Pension Fund has shifted more of its equities and bonds exposure to passive management, after active management has not been successful for many investors, the trustee says.

UK - The Shell Contributory Pension Fund has shifted more of its equities and bonds exposure to passive management, after active management failed to be successful for many investors, the trustee said.