News

Employers seeking to reduce costs should consider explicitly targeting employee benefits in a bid to mitigate the unintended consequences of pay cuts on pensions, a HSBC Actuaries and Consultants report says.

UK - Reforms introducing auto-enrolment, employer duties and personal accounts will be staged in over a three year period from 2012, the department for work and pensions said.

US - New York State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has prohibited New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF) from doing business with any investment adviser who made a political contribution to the state comptroller or a candidate for state comptroller....

NETHERLANDS - Dutch pension fund investor APG has planned to increase its exposure to private equity by committing €4bn (US$5.9bn) to new investments.

NEW ZEALAND - The Government Superannuation Fund (GSF) in New Zealand saw its deficit jump 123% in the year ended June 30, the scheme said today.

Most employees expect to delay their retirement as a result of the recession, Aon Consulting research reveals.

Three-fifths of employers are set to review their pension arrangements ahead of the introduction of auto-enrolment and personal accounts from 2012, latest research from the Association of Consulting Actuaries reveals.

Reforms introducing auto-enrolment, employer duties and personal accounts will be staged in over a three year period from 2012, the department for work and pensions says.

Buyouts would be a bad deal in over four-fifths of liability de-risking exercises, latest Punter Southall research reveals.

The government is considering starting the personal accounts trustee corporation early in a bid to prepare for the 2012 reforms.