News

Friends Provident has lured Evelyn Bourke from Standard Life to work as its chief financial officer.

IRELAND - Public sector pensions now account for almost 10% of the government's total pay and pensions bill, according to the Irish Department of Finance's latest report.

CANADA - The CAN$52bn Ontario Municipal Employees' Retirement System (OMERS) has confirmed it has taken a stake in Texan electricity company Oncor.

US - Taft Hartley funds with assets greater than $1bn have reported the worst one-year median return at -15.45% in a comparison of institutional assets.

Including: MALAYSIA - CAAM opens Malaysia office; GLOBAL - IASB and FASB announce roundtable locations; GERMANY - db x-trackers launches credit market ETFs

Annuity rates expected to fall, experts predict; BA shares soar as it lifts forecast; First full-year slump since 1940s, says IMF; Private equity is in pain, warns 3i

US - Funding ratios in the typical US corporate pension plan fell 3.7% in October as stocks had their worst month since 1987, according to BNY Mellon Asset Management.

ARGENTINA - Argentina's Lower House has voted to support president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's plan to nationalise about US$26bn in private pensions, a proposal that raised concern of a default.

AUSTRALIA - The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has defended its handling of the short selling ban in a speech given to the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association (ACLA).

GLOBAL - Emerging markets are in much better shape than they were five years ago, and fund managers are now even more keen to hang on to the decoupling theory, according to Standard & Poor's.