The new chief executive of the Pensions Protection Fund (PPF) has refused to rule out reducing benefit payments as an action of last resort.

Some of you may remember hearing about Henry Allingham a few weeks ago. The Royal Navy veteran is officially the Oldest Man in Britain, and is set to reach the age of 113 on June 6.

Trustees with struggling sponsors have a responsibility to secure higher benefits with an insurance company rather than with the government’s safety net, according to Paternoster.

The government has behaved shabbily – especially since Brown refused to accept any responsibility when he was chancellor, and now won’t apologise.

The Pensions Regulator is accepting longer recovery plans, but has stopped short of publicly endorsing a new timeframe for repayment.

Chancellor Alistair Darling may use the 2009 Budget report to reduce the higher rate of tax relief on pension contributions, according to industry experts.

The average fund transfer times for annuities has fallen from 35 days to just 12 following the Origo Options initiative.

Employers can reap cost savings from salary sacrifice in under 12 months if employee contributions exceed 500,000 a year, according to Watson Wyatt.

The pensions ombudsman has determined that new trustees are not exempt from personal liability, even if the scheme rules suggest otherwise.

The £500m Johnston Press Pension Plan is reviewing its investment strategy amid concerns over its sponsor’s health and dwindling annual contributions.

ANALYSIS: The commercial property market has been in rapid decline in the last two years, therefore pension funds must act prudently to manage risks successfully, says Laurent Ternisien

After the years of plenty come the lean years. Big cuts in public expenditure are now in store. And, although it is counterintuitive, cutting public expenditure opens up the possibility of major reforms that the government has so far ducked. Now, if ever, is the time to embrace the biggest pension change since Beveridge. Here is how the reform would work.

Trustees and employers share a common goal. Surely the answer is to focus on the similarities rather than the differences?

A year or two ago, straight-through processing (STP) for defined contribution (DC) pension schemes was a hot topic – every time you opened a magazine, there it was – today, it hardly merits a mention. So why have things gone so quiet? It would be great to think that the answer was ‘because it’s all done, everything’s working perfectly and we can all live happily ever after’.

As politics pushes the negative side of the blogosphere into mainstream thought, Tom Powdrill, provides a rundown of the more worthy economic blogs out there.

It’s Easter Sunday, and once all the eggs have been eaten, churches up and down the land will be preparing for their annual parochial church meetings. At these meetings church wardens will be elected, last year’s accounts will be examined and budgets will be set for the new ecclesiastical year. However, the Church of England may need to put its leaking church roofs, wheezing organs, and prehistoric heating systems on the back burner – there are pensions to pay.

Defined contribution (DC) fund platforms are enjoying growing popularity among schemes and consultants who see the benefits of offering the funds of many managers through one provider. To many in the industry, they are the future model of the DC pension landscape and will play an increasingly important role in the delivery of services to plan sponsors and members.

Consultancy firm Zolfo Cooper has appointed Andrew Comber as a director in its pensions advisory services team.

International law firm Lovells has appointed Claire Southern as a partner at its London office, specialising in pensions law.

T Rowe Price International (TRPI) has announced Chris Alderson as the firm’s new president and chief executive officer.

Punter Southall has appointed Andrew Drake as managing director of its investment consultancy arm, Psolve Asset Solutions.