News

Government has launched a consultation into increasing employee contribution rates for the local government pension scheme in a bid to save £900m.

Members of Lloyds TSB Pension Funds are demanding to know whether the £4bn partnership created to plug the schemes' deficits was used to offload "toxic assets".

Labour has made a final attempt to change the government's reforms of women's state pensions.

GLOBAL - The Investment Company Institute (ICI) has launched ICI Global, a London-based trade association focused exclusively on globally active funds - including regulated US and non US funds.

QE2 will damage pensions by pushing inflation up and interest rates down; Hopes raised for deal to avert major strikes; News Corp investors call for James Murdoch's head; Can we be persuaded to make sacrifices now for benefits later?; University lecturers...

UK - Shareholder activism has been trivialised and dismissed by policymakers, delegates at a responsible investment conference heard yesterday.

Rachel Reeves has been promoted to shadow chief secretary for the Treasury in the Labour cabinet reshuffle but her replacement in the pensions brief has not been announced.

NETHERLANDS/UK - PGGM is in advanced negotiations with Barclays Capital to acquire its majority stake in University Partnerships Programme, the UK's largest developer of university campuses, according to reports.

The University and College Union will begin a "sustained campaign of industrial action" across 67 campuses on Monday in protest at changes to the University Superannuation Scheme.

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