News

UK - Gordon Brown has been accused of attempting to blackmail Tony Blair to drop Adair Turner's revolutionary pension reform proposals.

Gordon Brown has been accused of attempting to blackmail Tony Blair to drop Adair Turner's revolutionary pension reform proposals.

UK - Government should look to use public-private partnerships to address taxpayer exposure to defined benefit longevity risk, Swiss Re says.

EUROPE - Pension funds should be able to decide for themselves whether the benefits of shareholder engagement outweigh the costs involved, the European Federation for Retirement Provision (EFRP) believes.

US - David Cooper has been named chief investment officer of Indiana's two largest pension plans, a further step in merging the operations of two schemes with $22bn in combined assets.

NETHERLANDS - Northern Trust has appointed Wim van Ooijen to head up its Netherlands business.

Standard Life today said it expects a net headcount reduction of some 500 employees over the next 15 months as it rolls out the second phase of its group restructure.

Pension tax relief restrictions will unfairly penalise people who are promoted, made redundant or take early ill-health retirement, the National Association of Pension Funds warns.

GLOBAL - Multinational companies are looking at innovative ways to redesign defined benefit schemes but will cut contributions by 10% in the process, research by Mercer suggests.

Raise retirement age and employee pension contributions, says key fund; Alliance Boots to outsource part of its pension plan