News

GLOBAL - Expectations on institutional investors' allocation to private equity are likely to be depressed for the next six months, following a sharp decline in Q3 to the lowest quarterly total since 2005, according to a survey by Preqin.

GLOBAL - Fiduciary management has completely transformed the Dutch pension industry over the past three years, BlackRock says.

INCLUDING: GLOBAL - IOPS appoints technical committee chairman; UK - Women still not saving enough for retirement; UK - Punter Southall promotions

Investors are flocking to cash funds thanks to the sub-prime crisis. But are all cash funds equal? And are they "safe" investments? Giovanni Legorano investigates

UK - Trustees of the largest 200 privately sponsored pension plans may have to ask their sponsoring companies for an addition £45bn (US$73.9bn) for the next five years to make up for huge shortfalls, Aon has warned.

US - The US$19bn Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) may have to be bailed out by the taxpayer following a loss of $3.6bn in assets, the scheme's executive director has warned.

SOUTH KOREA - Blackstone Group LP, manager of the world's largest buyout fund, will invest US$2bn in South Korean companies, infrastructure projects and real estate, the Korean National Pension Service has said.

DENMARK - Danish pension fund giant ATP has confirmed its commitment to raise all current and future pensions by 2%, despite reporting a 1.4% loss on its investment return for the first nine months of 2008.

GLOBAL - The International Organisation of Pension Supervisors (IOPS) has approved of a new set of guidelines for the supervisory assessment of pension funds.

AUSTRALIA - One in five working Australians have reconsidered their superannuation strategy in the last three months, a survey by the Investment and Financial Services Association (ISFA) has revealed.