News

The department for work and pensions is "arrogantly milking" pension schemes due to its failure to keep regulatory costs under control, Gissings says.

Rush to close final salary pensions has eased; BAA unions call off all strikes; State Street subprime woes force asset management chief to quit; Fresh interpretation of rules set to widen pension deficits

US - A set of recommendations to tackle California's pension shortfall is to be made public on Monday.

FINLAND - After an eleventh hour deal, a strike has been avoided by the Finnish National Opera (FNO) over a pay and pensions row.

INDIA - The State Government of Kerala has repealed a 2002 order which made civil service and public sector workers sign up to contributory pension schemes when entering employment, according to a report in the New India Press.

US - Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has set out a plan in which he would require every employer to automatically enrol its workers in a retirement plan.

IRELAND - Pension funds were down 2.5% on average at the end of 2007, the first year to end in negative territory since 2002, according to Hewitt Associates.

UK - The aggregate deficit for UK pension schemes dropped sharply in 2007, ending the year at a low of £2bn (US$3.9bn) and seeing almost half of all UK schemes in surplus, despite market volatility and the credit crunch.

US - President George Bush has signed legislation that allows local governments to divest from companies with ties to Sudan, in a move which will make it easier for pension funds to sell such investments.

AUSTRALIA - Superannuation assets increased by 24.4% over the 12 months to September 2007, reaching AUS$1.2trn (US$1.05trn), according to the latest figures released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).