Former Friends Provident (FP) chief executive Philip Moore has joined Pension Corporation as group finance partner.

If you type the word ‘crisis’ into PW’s brand new website – www.pensionsweek.com – you will find 64 articles featuring this word. Some of these will be very familiar to those who have followed market events over the last month.

The £29bn Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) is using the market crisis to help build up a big allocation to alternative investments.

Recent government reforms to public sector pensions don’t go far enough, according to the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI).

Woolworths is seeking to secure its pension liabilities, after deciding to close its scheme to further accrual.

Trustees blame banks first and regulators second for the current crisis, but they also reserve some blame for themselves, according to PW’s Trusty 30 survey.

A FTSE 100 report has revealed a surprise surplus of £18bn on bank pension schemes.

Pension Capital Strategies’ (PCS) latest quarterly report showed the surplus as of September 30, 2008.

Charles Cowling, managing director of PCS, said the accounting values of the pension liabilities has fallen even more than the pension scheme assets, since they are linked to the value of high quality (AA) corporate bonds.

Scottish Widows has called on the government to introduce better pension incentives for women.

Many final salary pension schemes are set to award the highest pension increases for 17 years, as retail price inflation (RPI) reached 5% in September.

Watson Wyatt has warned its clients that it forsees little short-term recovery for their assets.

Buyout firms face a year-long slowdown in business as trustees and sponsors defer decisions amid the unprecedented market turmoil.

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has launched its best practice principles for investment advice to aid pension funds in their decision-making.

Hedge funds have had their worst quarter for 14 years, but relative to equities it has been the fifth best quarter, estimates an investment consultant.

Phil Irvine from new investment consultancy PiRho, added that counter to the negative press image of hedge funds, the rolling 12-month volatility of equities is around three times higher than that of fund-of-hedge funds.

The £39bn BT Pension Scheme is to stress-test and risk-budget its investments through a new service provided by Algorithmics.

Five pensions legal practices have been commended in an annual ranking of non-contentious legal work.

Omers – the C$52bn (£25bn) Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System – is looking to poach key staff for its new London-based international investment platform.

The total assets managed by the world’s largest 500 fund managers grew by only 9% last year – the lowest rise for five years.

A monthly transparency report for pension schemes has been introduced by Inalytics in response to the market turmoil.

Fidelity International has been appointed by North Yorkshire County Council pension fund to manage a £250m global equity mandate.

Cesar Hernandez will manage the portfolio with an active, bottom-up systematic approach.

John Moore, treasurer of the fund, said: “We were looking to appoint a manager with, above all, a proven track record.”

As the economic turmoil leaves many DC scheme members with depleted pension pots, Charlie Kirby asks four industry insiders what those approaching retirement should .do

Here is an account of what happened to my wife and I at a restaurant recently. When we arrived, we were sat extremely close to other diners – I could hear my neighbour more loudly than I could hear my wife.

Private equity has shown long-term historical outperformance over publicly traded stocks. By Amarendra Swarup.

Fat tails

A statistical reference to the idea that returns from markets may vary more than we tend to think.

Current uncertainty in the markets make it near impossible to second-guess the next stage for fixed income strategies, but pension funds for now are advised to stay put. By Mark Miller.

The FSA plans to scrutinise remuneration, but it is shareholders who have the power to instigate change, says Tom Powdrill.

Annual corporate governance seminar:

Welcome to hard times

November 4, 2008 NAPF,

Westminster

Most lawyers who boast about driving around the country to let off steam at the weekends will be referring to cars with engines.

The last month has been the most testing ever for proponents of pension investing being fixed, long-term and immune to market adjustments. Some pension funds have declared an intention to carry on as normal, but many will need to reassess.

In current markets, it is tempting to either declare ‘stop the world, I want to get off’, or to turn away and hope that when you look back again it will have all corrected itself.

Fixed income has suffered as a result of the credit crunch, says Martin Fagan, but the former pension fund staple continues to find new ways to add value.

As financial crises continue to wreak havoc around the world, this environment is spawning opportunities elsewhere, including the global credit markets, says Himanshu Lukha.

Background

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) is one of the leading fund management groups in the UK, offering a full range of funds and services from index and active equities to bonds, property and cash through to transition management and cash flow matching.

The Pensions Regulator has appointed Bill Galvin (pic) as executive director for strategic development, taking over from Chris Dobson, who concludes a six-month secondment.

Winton Capital has named Andrew Fraser as head of institutional to develop its presence in the pensions market.

BlackRock has appointed John Athill as a director to boost the technical abilities of its institutional account management team.

Eversheds has hired Terry Saeedi as head of its pensions team in Leeds from rival firm Hammonds.