The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has created tough new corporate governance standards for company chairmen ahead of this year’s AGM season.

Demand for shareholder engagement services have soared amid concerns that organisations such as the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) failed to do enough to prevent corporate excess.

The government is facing a fresh call to reduce or temporarily

suspend Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levies for companies in financial distress.

Legal & General (L&G) leapfrogged Paternoster to become the buyout market leader last year by the value and number of deals.

n The argument that ‘Indexation must end to save firms’ (PW 09/02/09) encapsulated various comments from opportunistic pundits seeking to rekindle this argument on flexibility.

More than one in 10 companies in the UK, Canada, Hong Kong, Netherlands and the US see their pension fund as a threat to their survival.

The Pensions Regulator has approved the financial support arrangements for the two Sea Containers pension schemes to reduce their funding deficits.

More uncertainty has been created over who compensates members in the event of a buy-in insurer defaulting.

Equity market-neutral funds have proved their ability to deliver steady returns in this bear market. We expect pension demand for them to grow as income-generating assets become ever more attractive now that interest rates in the UK and the US are heading to zero.

BT has set a unique minimum employer contribution of £1,250 a year for members of its new group self-invested personal pension.

Scottish Widows has launched an animated modeller that allows schemes and employees to view four pricing scenarios for salary sacrifice.

Trustees are being urged to assess their sponsor’s ability to meet long-term pension commitments after a massive increase in corporate insolvencies.

The government has denied that any agreement has been struck with the trade union movement to delay reform of public sector pensions.

Standard Life has made a “cash injection” of £100m into its Sterling fund to address the fall in value that affected many of its customers.

ANALYSIS: As pressure grows on pension schemes to cut costs, negotiations on consultants’ fees are focusing on performance, says David Rowley

Some of you may know that I was a bit of a muso in the past, with aspirations of challenging the musical greats of the time.

While most employers would echo many of the FSA’s desires, the RDR may not help in bringing about these outcomes

From 2012, any schemes exempt from personal accounts will need to offer a default fund and an automatic opt-in. The size of total contributions invested in default funds will therefore increase.

The crises of 2008 should result in a more attentive approach by trustees to their fiduciary duties, says Catherine Howarth

The 2008 banking crisis uncovered how uncorrelated bond markets have become, meaning investors must choose their fund manager wisely to extract the best returns in a rapidly-changing environment, says Ashley Goldblatt

Whatever the reasons for companies undertaking a rights issue, the funds raised will always improve the net asset position of the company.This will strengthen its employer covenant from a pension scheme perspective – at least in the short term.

Investment and risk services provider Cardano has made two appointments to its London-based investment management team.

Watson Wyatt has appointed Clive Graham as a senior consultant in its benefits team in London.

Buck Consultants has appointed Sean Gilfeather to lead its development in Scotland.

Punter Southall has appointed John Gordon as a senior consultant in its Edinburgh office.