Newly published statistics reveal the BT Pension Scheme – the UK’s biggest – to have grown to £39.6bn.

I have just heard three of the biggest taboos in pensions broached. Two of them have been covered in this magazine, one of them I am pondering how to approach.

Private equity firms should accept defeat on moral hazard powers being granted to the Pensions Regulator, according to key pension figures.

A product that could provide a solution for small schemes struggling under the weight of longevity risk has been created by Credit Suisse.

Insurance giant Paternoster has admitted it can no longer provide buyout quotes for schemes smaller than £20m.

The expected sale of Synesis Life to fellow buyout provider Pension Corporation is a sign of things to come, according to the president of the Society of Pension Consultants (SPC).

• Liverpool Council has approved a motion calling on the Merseyside Pension Fund to ballot its members over calls for an ethical approach to investing its members’ pensions. Though the council has no right to enforce a vote, it is able to lobby in favour of offering Wirral Council’s members a vote on whether or not they would wish to see the fund’s statement of investment principles amended to include an ethical dimension.
• Marks & Spencer’s executive chairman Stuart Rose won a controversial vote to allow him to take on the role of chief executive. A minority of voters (22%) balloted against the move, either by abstaining or voting ‘no’ to the proposal. PIRC had advised members to vote against the merger of the two roles.
• Intelligent Pensions has advised the FSA to keep an eye on how third-way annuities are being recommended. Managing director, Steve Patterson, said the costs of the variable annuity guarantees, typically around 1% a year, were misunderstood by many and needed to be highlighted clearly by the product providers. He added that that third way annuities were not a “cure-all” for the at-retirement market.

Having a choice of pensions or savings contributions will be relatively common for financial services employees within three years, according to Mercer.

Simple comparisons between the New Zealand KiwiSaver and personal accounts should be avoided due to overwhelming differences, according to the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI).

A service that helps schemes choose an appropriate longevity improvement assumption has been launched by Punter Southall.

Local authority pension funds are seeking legal advice on ways to sidestep regulations that limit their private equity and hedge fund allocations to 10%.

Falling house prices in the UK have led to millions of people changing their minds about relying on their property as their pension.

Employees will be able to manage pensions, personal debt and employer share plans in a product to be launched by Standard Life.

Salary sacrifice could result in increasing employee contributions by a fifth, according to research.

The tax advantages of qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes are being threatened by closer HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) scrutiny, according to a tax expert.

HSBC Global Asset Management’s recruitment drive, which involved high level hires from competitors, has gone into reverse, with three exits in as many months.

The £3bn Lothian Pension Fund has boosted its corporate governance activity with the appointment of Hermes EOS for voting and engagement.

High volatility in global equities is proving its worth in the popularity of bottom-up stock selection, according to global asset manager RCM.

Charlie Thomas speaks to four industry figureheads about the open market option (OMO), after claims annuity providers are failing to adequately inform clients of the options available to them

1. Who should be responsible for promoting the open market option?
2. Does the OMO need to be regulated?
3. Should the OMO become the default option?

Should pension funds hold equities at all? This question was posed to me recently – and by an actuary, no less. With equity indices back to levels of a decade ago, of course we should be questioning our strategies, but that seemed a bit drastic.

Emerging markets growth is expected to continue to outpace that of more developed regions for some time to come

Two key discussion papers from the ASB and the IASB could this year fundamentally change pensions accounting

Access to voting data has recently seen significant improvements, but utilising it is the next milestone, says Tom Powdrill

The most important part of any outsourcing process is the transition of data and services from one administration team to another. Get it wrong, and you can expect a multitude of problems throughout your contract. Get it right, and you lay a firm foundation for service excellence and member satisfaction.

Is active fixed income the most exciting asset class of 2008? I have heard a lot of positive noises about the future prospects for certain asset classes since the beginning of this year, but the most urgent buy-it-while-you-can tips have been around fixed-income investments.

Over the last 15 years, fixed-income investment has diversified to cover a plethora of assets, and is taking advantage of opportunities provided by current market conditions, says Pamela Atherton

Investors are treading carefully during these volatile times, but fixed income managers can still achieve alpha through absolute return bonds, says Quentin Fitzsimmons

Sherif Zakhary has joined Pension Corporation as head of business development.