News

UK/SCANDINAVIA - UK pension funds are lagging behind their Scandinavian counterparts in allocating to alternative asset classes, a consultant says.

ROMANIA - Romania's parliament has approved changes to the national pension system in order to qualify for a €900m ($1.2bn) loan from the International Monetary Fund.

SWITZERLAND/GLOBAL - Swiss alternative asset manager LGT Capital Partners has closed three private equity funds after raising $4.1bn from institutional investors.

Advisers are set to turn their backs on conventional annuities and recommend asset-backed alternatives as annuity rate crashes continue to plague retirees.

Introducing the National Association of Pension Fund's proposal for a simple, single state pension would "really help" the auto-enrolment reforms, Adrian Boulding says.

The UK's biggest firms have pumped £13bn into their defined benefit pension schemes in the last 12 months, research shows.

EUROPE - Multinationals with defined contribution plans in Eastern Europe are starting to favour pan-European vehicles instead, John Hall, head of the international consulting practice for EMEA at Mercer said.

Saga appoints champion to do battle for the baby-boomers; BBC pension trustees 'outraged' by proposed cuts

Department store John Lewis has cut more than £330m from its defined benefit deficit this year, half year results reveal.

CBI warns that Pensions Regulator statements are endangering the market