Pension funds
Featured article - Research papers
The importance of defined-benefit occupational pension schemes in selected OECD countries
This paper discusses the role which (funded) defined benefit private sector occupational pension schemes play in national pensions in a sub-group of OECD countries. The paper shows that in the majority of countries under consideration statutory (state) pension schemes are the main if not only source of income in retirement for most people, with occupational pensions only playing at most a
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A recovery, but for how long?
- The Purple Book 2010 shows that private defined benefit pension schemes have improved their funding position with a surplus of £38.3 billion in 2010 compared to a deficit of £200.6 billion in 2009, based on the s.179 valuation assumptions.
- Changes in the assumptions under s.179 has led to the reduction of liabilities by approximately 7.5 per cent, accounting for around £75
As the Oil Spill Grows, Pension Fund Options Get Ever Fewer
Events have clearly escalated over the last fortnight, since we briefly pondered the hidden risks of deep sea drilling for pension funds [attach link to previous article], aka the ongoing BP oil spill saga. If anything, the risks highlighted then have only been exacerbated by the latest turn of events.
The US government has taken an increasingly strident tone and comparisons like the one
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The Hidden Risks of Deep Sea Drilling
Who knew that BP stood not just for British Petroleum but also for British Pensions? In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, rarely has one event come to embody so many of the risks that UK pension funds face today.
Forget the palpitations over the environmental impact and the horror of those advocating some form of socially responsible investing. These
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Europe gets its Bear Stearns
- EU bailout plan is a sticking plaster only – the problem is far from solved
- Many risks still remain for pension funds
- Slow EU growth may also threaten any export-led recovery in the UK
Today’s European government debt crisis echoes the private credit crunch of 2008, but with Greece resembling Bear Stearns rather than Lehman
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