News

Pensions deficits hit staff and customers hardest; Rail pension scheme shifts £540m into hedge funds; CM pulls out of group personal pensions

ROYAL Mail's efforts to plug its £6.5bn pension deficit face an in-depth investigation from the European Commission.

UK - Railpen is to invest £400m in hedge funds, as it looks to increase its total portfolio to £1.2bn by December 2007, up from £600m at the end of 2005.

SWITZERLAND - Swiss pension funds returns nearly halved in 2006 to end the year on 6.9%, according to the Swiss Pension Fund Association (ASIP).

US - Hewlett Packard and SureWest Communications have become the latest companies to freeze their defined benefit schemes.

UK - More than one fifth (22%) of companies feel increasing defined benefit pension costs are hurting share price, research by Aon Consulting has found.

UK - Currency overlay could play a significant part in pension fund returns, according to new statistics published by Mellon Analytical Solutions.

SWITZERLAND - The currency and alternative investment manager Millennium Global Investments has opened a new office in Switzerland.

CANADA - The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec achieved net investment returns of C$17.8bn in 2006, but the fund's CEO warned of a dip in returns going forward.

GLOBAL - ETF assets under management are expected to surge from the current US$574bn to over $2trn by 2011, Morgan Stanley has claimed.