News

UK - The £3.2bn (US$4.4bn) Tyne & Wear Pension Fund has terminated a circa £300m active UK equity brief held by Fidelity Investments, head of pensions Stephen Moore confirmed to MandateWire.

FRANCE/BELGIUM - BNP Paribas has come a step closer to acquiring Fortis Holdings after it reached a deal with the Belgian government that would see it buy Fortis in a cash and shares deal.

UK - Pension accounting standard FRS17 should be immediately suspended after the implementation of quantitative easing by the Bank of England, Baring Asset Management says.

GLOBAL - The actuarial profession must make efforts to strengthen transparency and accountability in light of the global economic crisis, the International Actuarial Association (IAA) has said.

GLOBAL - Pension funds could come increasingly under pressure to meet private equity fund call-up obligations in the medium to long term, a report a Preqin reveals.

US- The Fresno County Employees Retirement Association has commissioned a study to review the effect the financial downturn may have on the employer's contribution rate.

Final salary pension schemes experienced the highest five-day volatility on record, with the biggest single day loss of £27bn on Monday, Aon Consulting says.

Premier Foods has agreed a new contribution schedule with trustees of its four biggest defined benefit pension schemes, its preliminary results reveal.

Business-to-business publishing company Incisive Media has launched a flexible benefits package for its UK staff.

GLOBAL - Increasing numbers of investors are taking climate change and sustainable investment into consideration as part of their asset allocation process, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) research reveals.