Opinion

As anyone who has been unfortunate enough to have lunch with me will testify, my long-term pet hate has been the fact private sector pension funds have to account for and fund future liabilities now, while the government conveniently dodges these rules...

Accounting surveys by KPMG and Hymans Robertson - both published last week - found increases in inflation assumptions have increased markedly but are still failing to keep pace with market assumptions.

Pension fund managers could have been forgiven for feeling like the worst had passed when the industry emerged from 2009, though it appears the glow of recovery was merely a reprieve.

Mohamed Al Fayed's colourful tirade against "idiot" trustees in yesterday's London Evening Standard makes for entertaining reading.

What will this week bring from embattled Europe? The sovereign debt crisis has been gathering momentum, and like a pendulum swinging, with each pass it gathers speed and force.

The coalition's pledge to simplify the rules and regulations that have hindered occupational pensions in the past is welcome news.

As we stare down the barrel of an age of financial austerity, I have been frantically searching for something positive to focus on. And, as luck would have it, I think I may have found it.

After days of indecision, the final agreement forming a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government was finally agreed last Tuesday (May 10), sadly, just after last week's edition of Professional Pensions went to press.

Last week, PP Pensions Commission summarised a range of simple, low-cost policies the new government should look to implement to improve pensions provision (PP, May 6). We asked you, our readers, to suggest additional ideas, a short selection of which...

This week has very publicly exposed, among other things, the extent to which wrangling and short-term deal making are inherent in politics.