Pension fund shake-up to boost bond demand

New regulations require UK pension fund trustees to consider the risk of their sponsor firms defaulting on payments. Fionnuala Synott asks if this could hasten the long-term flight from equities towards bonds

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Pension fund managers are used to assessing the creditworthiness of the companies whose bonds they buy. But now they have to pay more attention to a type of credit risk that's a bit closer to home. Earlier this year the government issued guidelines recommending that funds in the UK tailor their funding and investment policy to the risk profile of their sponsor companies, as part of an update to the November 2004 Pensions Act.

"Trustees used to assume that the scheme would be in surplus

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As the world constantly evolves and changes, so too does the life insurance industry, which is preparing for a multitude of challenges, particularly in three areas: interest rates, regulatory mandates and technology (software, underwriting tools and…

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