News

The government has failed to create a stable framework which would encourage employers to offer flexible retirement with confidence, a lawyer says.

The aggregate funding position of the 7800 defined benefit funds monitored by the Pension Protection Fund worsened to a record £218.7bn deficit last month.

US - New York State comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli has fully accepted the recommendations of the Pension Task Force relating to reforms of the New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF).

EUROPE - The first hedge fund exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been launched into the market, by db x-trackers, the ETF arm of Deutsche Bank. The ETF is listed on Deutsche Börse's XTF segment.

US - The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp (PBGC), the US corporate pension lifeboat fund, has assumed responsibility for 88 members of the East River Management Corp. after the scheme lost all its assets in the Madoff scandal.

US- Participants in 401(k) plans have shifted toward fixed income investments following an 11% fall in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in February, according to the Hewitt 401(k) index observations.

UK-The aggregate funding position of the 7800 defined benefit funds monitored by the Pension Protection Fund worsened to a record £218.7bn (US$302.1bn) deficit last month.

GLOBAL- Watson Wyatt has warned clients they will incur further losses if they rebalance their portfolios before conducting a strategic asset allocation review.

NORWAY - The Government Pension Fund - Global, also known as the Oil Fund, said its end of year results for 2008 were the worst in its history, with a total loss of -23.3%.

CANADA- Moody's Investors Service maintained a stable ratings outlook for CDP Financial, the debt issuing subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, but showed concerns over the firm's risk management capabilities.