News

Trustees of global security firm Northrop Grumman's UK pension plan have appointed Punter Southall as its scheme actuary.

GLOBAL - BlackRock's Deborah Fuhr has called for greater scrutiny of the different exchange-traded products coming to market, following a number of regulator warnings.

Rethink urged on future pension bill; Pensioners missing out on £2400 in benefits; Britain's pension system among the best, but demographic risks loom; Calpers criticises banks over Lehman proposal

The government's probe into allowing early access was a political rather than practical move and the Treasury knew the idea would be rejected, a lawyer claims.

ECUADOR - Ecuador's public pension fund, the nation's biggest institutional investor, will reduce its portfolio risk by limiting government debt purchases and boosting corporate and home lending, a board member said.

US - US corporate pension funds for companies in the S&P500 saw their unfunded liabilities shrink by $9.6bn in 2010, data from Wilshire Associates shows.

AUSTRALIA - Officials at the A$18bn ($19.4bn) superannuation fund Sunsuper are shunning mega hedge fund managers in favour of smaller ones.

UK - Just a quarter of the UK pensions industry supports plans to make all schemes compliant with International Financial Reporting Standards, a poll shows.

JAPAN - Japanese pension funds plan to increase investments in alternative assets and pare their holdings of domestic bonds and stocks this fiscal year to diversify portfolios and bolster returns, a survey showed.

UK - Chilled food maker Uniq's losses have fallen following the pioneering debt-for-equity deal which saw its pension fund take a majority share-holding.