In a special deal for low paid BT employees, increased employer contributions will be part-funded by making smaller contributions to some senior managers.

BT is to set a new benchmark for generous employer contributions when the full details of its defined contribution (DC) scheme are announced this month.

Consultants have pledged greater use of performance-related fees, but not price cuts, to help cash-strapped clients.

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has called for more coordination of gilt issuance with pension fund demand.

Linklaters has introduced a ‘futureproof’ group personal pension (GPP) scheme for its 2,500 staff.

Hymans Robertson has created a new way of measuring and comparing pension fund deficits.

Small to medium-sized (SME) firms have been urged to diversify pension fund investments now, rather than wait for equity prices to rebound.

Is money purchase the right answer? The current market downturns and deepening recession have been hailed as the latest ‘final nail in the coffin’ for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes.

Amendments to the IAS 19 accounting standard will put the full weight of defined benefit (DB) promises onto companies’ income statements.

Enhanced annuities are now estimated to make up a quarter of all annuities sold in the open market in the UK, according to Watson Wyatt.

Gold could be profitable in the medium to long term, thanks to ongoing issues with supply and demand fundamentals, according to a fund manager.

The government is being urged to make flexible retirement procedures clearer over concerns about precisely which benefits can be taken.

Since 2006, flexible retirement has allowed members of a pension scheme to work part-time and use part of their pension and tax-free lump sum to augment their salary.

The volume of liability hedging trades shrank between September and December last year, according to research.

Analysis: Many of the current yields on fixed income investments look highly tempting, but what is the risk that goes with them, asks David Rowley.

There could not be more chilling news. It is not now simply a case of companies pulling up the drawbridge and excluding new employees from their pension schemes. No, it is that some companies are now planning to close their pension schemes to existing members.

The environment has changed and it is again ripe for rational investment in good quality companies. I have been blindly in love with investing in the stock market all my life. Way back when I was at university in New Zealand, I funded my skiing through my investments. Last year, my favourite asset class let me down.

Following a year in which most global equity markets fell by more than 40% in local currency terms, investment management fees are being placed in even greater focus than usual. Nowhere is this more evident than for hedge funds, where poor performance has prompted many managers to offer reduced fees – both management and performance – as an incentive for investors not to redeem. This has become the investment equivalent of the January sales, where unwanted goods are discounted to find a buyer.

The Treasury’s enquiry into the financial crisis has so far thrown up some interesting points about the nature of investment culture and share-ownership, says Tom Powdrill, but some explosive exchanges are yet to come.

Equalisation
Fixing a problem can be a daunting prospect, particularly when previous attempts to do so have created new and complex challenges of their own.

The phrase ‘cash is king’ is on the lips of almost every finance director and treasurer right now, and with capital from banks still difficult to come by, we expect the ongoing financial difficulties to prompt a number of quoted companies to undertake rights issues to raise cash. Moreover, the recent easing of the Association of British Insurers’ guidelines, and a likely speeding up of the rights issue timetable, mean they are likely to be on plcs’ agenda despite continuing market volatility.

Capita Hartshead has appointed Louise Harris to the newly created position of head of pensions communications.

Independent investment manager, Ruffer, has appointed Guy Thornewill to its research team to focus on European equities.

JLT Benefit Solutions has hired two investment consultants to its investment team.

Aberdeen Asset Management has named Paul Griffiths as global head of fixed income as part of its acquisition of several Credit Suisse businesses.