News

With defined benefit on its way out, Andrew Sheen looks at what the future holds for the remaining DB schemes

US - The difficulties faced by the US' Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have been highlighted as it was revealed some former workers of Republic Technologies International risked cuts of up to 75% of their pension entitlements.

NEW ZEALAND - The differences between the retirement systems of New Zealand and the UK are so vast that KiwiSaver should not be held up as a shining beacon for the introduction of Personal Accounts in 2012, leading pensions figures have warned.

INCLUDING: GLOBAL - Hedge fund code fails to gather support; US - Retirees 'afraid' to spend retirement investments; UK - Airport chaos threatened

US - Tobacco investing has been thrown back into the spotlight, following reports that the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) is considering putting money back into the industry.

WRAGGE & CO has appointed Paul Carberry as a director in its pensions practice.

GLOBAL - The "explosion" in cross-border capital flows witnessed as institutional investors move away from their traditional home bias has caused currency valuations to be severely "stretched", according to one expert.

DENMARK - PFA Pension plans to increase its direct allocation to hedge funds, following its recent investment worth around DKK135m (US$28.5m).

SWEDEN - Alpha and beta separation is continuing to be a growing trend among pension funds, with the latest announcement that Sweden's SEK225bn (US$37.5bn) AP3 fund has restructured its asset management operations.

PORTUGAL - Deutsche Bank is to offer custody and related services to Portuguese pension funds.