Capital

The UK pension market is in tough shape post financial crisis. According to a Bloomberg article, "about 87 percent of the U.K.’s 7,400 final salary pension plans are in deficit following the financial crisis." This crisis offers an unprecendented opportunity for companies that insure the pension liabilities of private corporations through bulk purchase annuities. “The bulk-purchase annuity market is going to continue to be a good market because companies want to get their pension...

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College has released a study that highlights the need for a greater focus on the use of bonds in retirement. The study indicates that 86 percent of households approaching retirement hold a bank account, while only 33 percent own stocks directly and only 7 percent own bonds directly. The author suggests that the focus on safe, highly liquid accounts that provide a guaranteed return of capital is short-sighted and often risky. The notion of a return on...

The Australian asset manager Macquarie Funds Group has put together a team of specialists who will focus on developing products that address longevity risk . "We will be looking at products around the development of longevity risk indices, derivatives and capital market products. There are some exciting products in the US which we may tailor to the Australian market," Source: Investor Daily Full Story