News

THOUSANDS of women could face a poorer retirement following a government U-turn on pensions reform, Age Concern says.

NETHERLANDS - The ABP fund has said it is to increase benefits for claimants and active participants by 4% from the New Year.

BALANCED pooled funds achieved a median return of -3.4pc in November 2007, latest CAPS figures from BNY Mellon Asset Servicing reveals.

GLOBAL - There will be no Global Pensions newswire between 24 December 2007 and 1 January 2008. The Global Pensions team will resume normal service on 2 January 2008.

UK - The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has tendered for a consultant to work on the risk based levy to be applied to schemes from 2010 onwards.

US - The US$174bn California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) has announced it is actively seeking to appoint an independent fiduciary advisor for its $14.7bn Private Equity Proactive Portfolio.

IRELAND - Pension funds could face fee increases of up to 2400% if The Pensions Board goes ahead with plans to demand higher charges from members to cover higher staffing costs in 2009.

THE INSTITUTE of Actuaries has confirmed Nigel Masters as its president elect following a special institute council meeting on December 17.

HERMES Pensions Management head of investment management in real estate Fiona Sweeney has resigned to "pursue new interests".

SWEDEN - Poul Winslow, chief investment officer at the Second Swedish National Pension Fund (AP2), is to leave his role by April 2008.