News

GLOBAL - The number of expatriate employees has almost doubled over the past few years as companies increasingly see the value in worker mobility and develop international benefit schemes to cope, Mercer has said.

UK - Proposed amendments to the Pensions Bill could increase costs for employers by as much as £100m (US$ 154.4m) per year, Hewitt Associates has claimed.

Proposed amendments to the Pensions Bill could increase administration costs for sponsoring employers by as much as £100m per year, Hewitt Associates says.

Cardano UK has signed up six pension funds with assets of over £9bn in its first 15 months of business.

UK - Essex County Council is looking for an active global equity manager to run a mandate worth between £100m and £300m (US$153.7m-$461.2m).

SWEDEN - Swedish national pension funds, AP1 and AP2, investors in Swedbank, have agreed to support a share issue by the bank.

NETHERLANDS - The entrance of APG Group and PGGM into the asset management industry has resulted in dramatic shifts in market shares, Bureau Bosch has revealed.

CANADA - British Columbia (BC) is to create a 'first of its kind' mutual pension savings scheme for the 75% of workers in the province without access to a retirement plan.

AUSTRALIA - Chief executive salaries at Australia's top 100 companies increased three times as fast as the rise of average weekly earnings over the period from 2001 to 2007, research has found.

UK - The UK government's proposal to allow people to buy additional National Insurance (NI) contributions for a higher state pension is simply a further rearrangement of the "deckchairs on our sinking state pension system", Ros Altmann warns.