News

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.

UK - Oil giant Shell is set to implement changes to its UK pension scheme next year which will include increasing the retirement age for new workers from 60 to 65.

Regulator slams pension rules as bizarre; Pension fears take Cable & Wireless's four-week decline to 30%; Fidelity Investments, Credit Suisse and Capital Group yield the axe; Aviva assets squeezed by turbulent markets

First Actuarial has launched a web based tool for pensions accounting figures giving companies real time updates on how fluctuating markets are affecting their accounts.

The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority is recruiting a policy and product developments delivery director.