News

UK - The Pensions Ombudsman (PO) and The Financial Ombudsman's Service (FOS) have been waiting in anticipation for the results of The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Institutional Review amid speculations they will be merged or scrapped.

WATSON Wyatt has boosted its employer covenant business with the appointment of Grant Thornton restructuring expert Sean Weaver.

UK - Warwickshire Pension Fund has invested in property and a fund of hedge funds, after being "steered away" from private equity by its consultancy firm, Mercer.

CANADA - Regulations should be altered to encourage companies to continue offering defined benefit (DB) schemes, said Bank of Canada governor, David Dodge, yesterday.

CANADA - Hedge funds, real estate and fixed income dented la Caisse de dépôt et placement de Québec's otherwise above benchmark returns of 14.6% for 2006.

AUSTRALIA - Super funds are "on track" for another year of double digit returns, indicated the findings of the most recent Intech Super Survey.

CANADA/EUROPE - Teachers' Private Capital, the investment arm of the C$106bn Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), has opened its first office outside Canada in London to focus on direct European investment.

EMPLOYERS offering staff group personal pensions should consider setting up trustee board-style committees to oversee them, Truestone Asset Management believes.

UK - The BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) has more than doubled its allocation to alternative assets from 7% to 15%.

SWITZERLAND - Swiss pension funds have begun investing heavily in platinum, according to reports by trade press to the mining industry.