News

UK - Pension scheme trustees feel their workloads have increased significantly and many claim they don't have sufficient time to complete their duties, a survey by Aon has revealed.

INCLUDING: US - Pioneer appoints US head of portfolio management; US - CalPERS appoints board member; US - CalPERS appoints board member

UK - Local authority pension schemes are being unfairly funded by council tax, according to the TaxPayers' Alliance.

IRELAND - The Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF) has warned a soft mandatory approach to pensions by the government could exacerbate the problem of take up and contributions.

US - New York City pension funds have committed to affordable housing by adopting real estate investment principles which allow them to 'opt-out' of investing in individual properties that could adversely affect tenants and affordability.

UK - Goldman Sachs' Rothesay Life has agreed to buy out the £700m (US$1389m) Rank Group Pension Scheme, in the biggest deal of its kind to date.

NETHERLANDS - PGGM has confirmed it has stopped some of its classical alpha activities in liquid markets but says it will use the technique in other areas of investment.

US - Over half (58%) of state defined benefit (DB) pension plans have funding levels above 80%, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported.

UK - A tool to help trustees and scheme sponsors calculate the impact of the Pensions Regulator's proposed new mortality assumptions has been developed by Hymans Robertson.

Up to half of employees are worried they might lose their jobs in 2008, a Hymans Robertson poll reveals.