Schemes of all sizes can exploit pooled derivative vehicles to hedge against inflation risk, according to an investment expert.

The largest unmentionable elephant in the pension room must surely be the DC pension offered to those fresh out of university, with average debts of £10,000. Like a well intended gift from a remote aunty, it is grudgingly and gratefully received, but it’s not what the vast majority really need.

Former Conservative MP Michael Portillo has hit out at the massive disincentive for UK employees to save for a pension.

A wave of employers looks likely to offer employees the chance to defer pensions saving and receive contributions into a corporate ISA instead.

Trustees at companies that have seen big falls in share prices should look to review their covenant, advised a leading corporate finance adviser.

The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has devised a pioneering way to cut the fees paid to private equity fund managers.

• The trustees of the £260m InterContinental Hotels UK Pension Plan have appointed Schroders to manage a £20m unconstrained global equity mandate. The money will be invested in Schroders’ Quantative Global Active Value Fund, which is managed by Justin Abercrombie. The fund has over £2bn funds under management, and since its inception has outperformed the MSCI World NDR index by 3.1%.
• The council of the Pensions Management Institute (PMI) has been elected. Steve Delo was re-elected as president, Mike Sullivan was elected as vice-president, and Neil Bolding was re-elected as honorary treasurer. Geraldine Brassett (Mercer); Sue Curryer (University of Cambridge); Susan Smith (Mercer); and David Maddison (Rpmi) were also elected to sit on the PMI council.
• Northamptonshire Police has appointed Xafinity as administrator for its pension scheme. Gary Jones, chief accountant at Northamptonshire Police, said Xafinity’s reputation with other police forces had been a significant factor in choosing their provider. Leslie Carline, head of client development at Xafinity, revealed the police force was the fourth to join its administration customers.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ risk-sharing consultation document issued earlier this month lists the key risks in private sector pension provision as investment risk, cohort longevity risk, inflation risk, default risk and regulatory risk. The document discusses risk-sharing between scheme sponsors and scheme members; it discusses no other form of risk-sharing. It therefore makes the implicit assumption that these risks can be efficiently shared solely between scheme members and scheme sponsors.

Buyout deals have increased seven-fold and will be worth £10bn this year, according to a risk expert.

Unilever has appointed Liz Airey, an experienced non-executive director, to chair the trustee board for its £5bn final salary scheme.

Pension schemes will be hit with tens of thousands of pounds in fees unless the pensions bill is amended, industry bodies have warned.

Inadequate retirement income from defined contribution (DC) plans is the most feared outcome of institutional investors, according to a survey by Watson Wyatt.

• A guide to annuities for those approaching retirement has been produced by Alexander Forbes Annuity Bureau. The guide advises those whose pension fund is about to reach maturity of their options at periods of one year, six months and three months to retirement. The guide also illustrates that the difference between the best and worst conventional annuity rates could be as high as 27%.
• Improvements in life expectancy have amounted to five hours per day, according to a longevity expert. Speaking at Punter Southall Group’s Surrey pensions conference, Newcastle University professor Tom Kirkwood said longevity was a huge challenge for pension schemes. “Current improvements are the equivalent of an extra five hours for every 24 hours we live, and we are stuck with systems unable to adapt to changing mortality rates.”
• BAA has chosen eShare 2008 as its governance software platform in an effort to raise the standards of its scheme governance. The platform is designed to bring clarity and transparency for trustees with easy-to-use applications. Secretary to the trustees, Alastair Knowles, said governance software had become a “must-have” for modern trustees.

Incomplete or missing data is posing a risk to firms’ calculations on buyout, according to a data specialist.

Personal accounts could trigger penal tax charges for individuals who have taken steps to protect their pension savings against the lifetime allowance charge.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called for a review of the buyout market to safeguard the interests of pension scheme members.

A newly developed hedge fund portfolio arrangement could open the asset class up to the masses, according to a leading money management firm.

Economic slowdown and higher inflation – or stagnation – will be deadly for equity markets, a fund manager has warned.

Currency overlay funds had mixed results in the first quarter of 2008 after sterling fell against both the euro and the yen.

PROFILE David Ricketts talks to industry stalwart John Jory about his work at B&CE and the key industry role he plays in persuading the government to provide greater incentives to lower levels of earners to start saving more for their retirement

The government’s latest poverty data is not just disappointing – it is certainly that – but it is so bad that it demands a major rethink of the anti-poverty strategy, including that towards pensioners.

Trustees will often not know if an employer’s practice causes the scheme to be indirectly discriminatory

Trustees are constantly being reminded of the increased levels of awareness expected of them, but it is crucial to first pinpoint where these knowledge gaps lie

Ethical issues are media-popular, but will investors back a vote on chickens’ welfare, asks Tom Powdrill

Private equity made simple

Most people in business development are used to pushing the boundaries, but Andy Dickson, senior business development manager for Standard Life, has gone one step further. Here, he tells PW about the whirlwind of emotions he experienced while hiking up Kilimanjaro.

The credit crunch is causing many schemes to take a closer look at costs and investments. Pensions Week asks trustees about its impact on their investment choices

Premier Pension Services, a division of JLT Benefit Solutions (JLT), has named Richard Prior (pic) as operations manager to boost its self-invested personal pension (Sipp) team.