News

POSTAL workers are to be balloted on Royal Mail's offer on pay and pensions as their series of strikes appears to be over.

GLOBAL - Institutional investor confidence in the US was at an 18 month low, with confidence in Asia also down and the European outlook barely improved over last month, according to State Street Global Markets.

THE DEBT Management Office has revealed that today's auction of £925m of 30-year index-linked bonds was 1.72 times oversubscribed.

TOO MANY investment choices turn defined contribution scheme members off saving, a report by Barrie & Hibbert warns.

DENMARK - Pensionskassernes Administration (PKA) has announced it has acted to divest its DKK65m (US$12m) holding in oil companies working in Burma.

BALANCED pooled funds saw median returns of -0.1pc in the third quarter of 2007, latest CAPS figures from BNY Mellon Asset Servicing reveal.

US - Alaska Permanent Fund has recoved from loses earlier in the quarter to end on positive returns of 2.7% for Q1 of the fiscal year.

Train drivers set to go on strike; Pensioners to outnumber children; Slow annuities market hits Pru UK sales; Banks' earnings downgraded

Workers switching jobs before retirement face 25% pension cut; Union chiefs ratify Royal Mail deal; Chancellor rejects calls for tax U-turn; Standard and Swiss Re face pressure over Resolution bid

NEW ZEALAND - The guardians of the state superannuation fund have decided to divest NZ$37.6m (US$28.2m) of tobacco holdings, to better comply with the fund's responsible investment framework.