Pension funds change from equities to bonds
Almost half of final salary pension funds have moved assets from equities to bonds in the past year, as they respond to market volatility and aim to match assets more closely with liabilities, figures show.
Some 46 percent of British defined benefits schemes, collectively worth billions of pounds, have reallocated funds from equities to bonds in the past 12 months, according to a survey by Aon Consulting.
Around 54 percent said they had made no change to their investment strategy.
Plans to increase deposit protection
The government plans to raise the maximum compensation for victims of bank failures to 50,000 pounds but banks will not have to pay money upfront into the deposit protection scheme, the Treasury said on Tuesday.
In a consultation document on reforming the banking system in the wake of last year’s run on mortgage lender Northern Rock, the Treasury concluded it would be wrong for banks to pay more money when they are rebuilding their capital positions.