News

Work and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has laid out plans for basic state pension reform in a bid to create a "state pensions system fit for a 21st century welfare system".

US - US state pension funds saw their funding levels improve by four percentage points in 2010 to 69% while asset growth outpaced a growth in liabilities, according to a survey by Wilshire Associates.

NORWAY - Bengt Enge, the investment chief at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), has stepped down.

POLAND - Poland's plan to cut transfers to private pension funds, already delayed by a month, may not be in place until the second half of 2011, posing a threat to the fiscal-deficit goal, Citigroup'S Polish unit said.

GLOBAL - The hedge fund industry is expected to soar to $2.5trn by year-end on the back of strong returns and inflows, according to research published today by Deutsche Bank.

Professional Pensions has moved office and has a new address in the heart of London's Soho.

The balance of occupational pension schemes monitored by the Pension Protection Fund marginally improved to a surplus of £48.4bn at the end of February.

There is no single right answer to what makes a good defined contribution default fund strategy, the Investment Management Association says.

GLOBAL - Sovereign wealth funds worth $4trn in assets have resumed their moves into alternative assets in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, new research by Preqin showed.

The Employers Pension Forum has attacked unions over planned strike action in protest at changes to the university pension scheme, saying it will damage the higher education sector.