News

UK - Threadneedle is set to withdraw from the full service group personal pensions market in a bid to focus on its investment only offering.

Karel Van Gutte has been named as secretary general of the Belgian Association of Pension Institutions (BAPI).

EUROPE - Pension funds could once again retract from securities lending if they are included in European proposals which would tag lenders as ‘short sellers', according to the trade body for securities lenders.

Changes to IAS19 will have a "limited" effect on investor attitudes even though they could dent reported profits by as much as £10bn, PwC says.

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

Middle-class pensioners hit harder by rising prices; Unison prepares for strike ballot; Britain facing biggest public sector strike wave in generation, unions warn

The balance of schemes monitored by the Pension Protection Fund has fallen from a surplus of £2.3bn to a deficit of £13.5bn since the end of April, figures show.

US - Consultant Wurts & Associates has hired Jeffrey Scott, the investment chief of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation known for spearheading a risk-based asset allocation, to serve as CIO of its outsourcing business.

ASIA - Asian debt is replacing US Treasuries for institutional investors in the region, but developed market pension funds remain underexposed to the asset class, Baring Asset Management believes.

Pensions minister Steve Webb has again vowed to clamp down on companies offering a "bung of cash" to staff who give up defined benefit pensions.