News

The increase in state pension age to 66 will happen more quickly than originally planned and could be in place by 2016, minister say.

US - Officials at the New York State Common Retirement Fund have announced plans to lead a class action against BP over losses related to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

ASIA - LaSalle Investment Management has appointed Mark Gabbay as international director and chief investment officer for Asia Pacific.

NETHERLANDS/CANADA - Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP (ABP) and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) have launched an investment programme which will allocate €200m (US$246m) in Dutch and Canadian start-up companies.

GLOBAL - LGT Capital Partners has closed its Crown Global Secondaries II (CGS II) fund after total subscriptions from pension funds and other investors reached US$1.2bn.

The government has announced it will undertake an independent review of auto-enrolment.

UK - The government has announced it will undertake an independent review of auto-enrolment.

At the time of writing the Professional Pensions team was, like the rest of the industry, speculating as to the contents of George Osborne's emergency Budget.

The use of covenant advisers has increased, becoming more streamlined, regular and of less concern to employers, Allen & Overy says.

The collective intake of breath has been almost audible as the pain of public sector belt tightening begins to seep through the economy. Some £6.25bn of initial cuts - £500m of which was reinvested - have been swiftly followed by £2bn in project cancellations....