News

IIMIA Investment Group has announced plans to merge with multi-asset manager MitonOptimal Group - a move allowing it to benefit from developments in the UK pension fund market.

INCLUDING: FRANCE - French unions wary of pension reform; US - Court upholds pension case; CHINA - China to issue 20 pension licenses in Oct; ISRAEL - Israel wants US pension funds to shun Iran-linked firms; RUSSIA - Russian investor targets pensions...

NETHERLANDS - A leading class action analyst has predicted that new legal proceedings may offer pension funds an alternative to participating in US class action cases.

THE GlaxoSmithKline Common Investment Fund has hired Goodman Property Investors to run a €150m (£102m) indirect continental European separate account mandate.

UK - The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has just released its latest figures, showing poor performance throughout August, having been battered by the continuing market turmoil.

RETIREMENT income expectations far outstrip actual average annuities, with 47pc anticipating more than £25,000 a year, according to new research by Norwich Union.

Resolution legal change boosts chance of Friends tie-up; US sub-prime turmoil claims first British victim; Displaced Remploy workers win £350m subsidy; British billionaire snaps up 7pc holding in Bear Stearns

UK - Local authority pension schemes have reduced their allocation to fixed income and have diversified into alternatives, according to a new survey.

US - The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has moved towards creating a focused inflation-linked asset class that would include allocating up to US$2.5bn in a pilot infrastructure programme.

AGGREGATE defined benefit funding levels fell from a surplus of £51bn in July to one of £27bn in August, latest data from The Pension Protection Fund reveals.