News

Three pension schemes have been honoured by the Pensions Research Accountants Group for the quality of their summary reports to members.

BlackRock has completed its merger with Barclays Global Investors.

US - BlackRock has laid off 89 employees in San Francisco as a result of its merger with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which the firm completed yesterday.

US - A group of AK Steel retirees will receive over US$51m as a compensation for having been paid less than the full accrued benefit due to them under the AK Steel Pension Plan.

SWEDEN - Insurer AMF has decided to grant an increase of interest payments to its defined contribution members from 8% to 12% following positive investment results.

US/JERSEY - State Street has entered into an agreement to acquire Jersey-based fund administrator Mourant International Finance Administration in a move the firm claimed will make it the largest alternatives asset servicing company in the world.

US - The New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF) invested US$150m combined in private equity and absolute return strategies in October, according to the scheme's monthly transaction report.

EUROPE - The investment fund market in Europe grew by 7.2% in the third quarter and had €6.8trn (US$10.3trn) under management at the end of September, the latest quarterly data by the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) revealed.

UK - Ofcom has published a consultation on how it accounts for BT's pension costs when setting regulated wholesale charges for telecommunications services.

The Financial Reporting Council has launched a consultation on its proposals to overhaul the Combined Code.