January 2026

UK. Pension contributions influence retention but fall short of employee expectations: Penfold

Almost nine in ten UK employees say their workplace pension influences whether they stay with their current employer, but employers treated pensions as a compliance exercise rather than as a strategic element of employee wellbeing, according to new research from workplace pension provider Penfold. The data is drawn from Penfold’s Retirement Reality Check report, based on surveys of 2,000 UK employees and 500 small and medium-sized businesses. The findings underline the growing importance of pensions in recruitment and retention at...

Swiss regulator flags ‘acute’ systemic risks at multi-employer pension funds

Switzerland’s occupational pension supervisor, the Oberaufsichtskommission Berufliche Vorsorge (OAK BV), is tightening oversight of pension funds exposed to systemic risks that could undermine their financial stability. In a note circulated in December, the authority set out instructions contained in directive W-01/2025, which entered into force on 1 January. The directive requires cantonal and regional supervisory authorities to carry out a comprehensive assessment of financial and non-financial risks for the pension funds under their supervision. OAK BV now expects a “structured assessment...

US. Verizon’s PRT Case Dismissed in New York

A federal judge in New York dismissed a complaint accusing Verizon and its advisers of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act through a $5.7 billion pension risk transfer. In a January 8 opinion in Dempsey et al. v. Verizon Communications Inc. et al., U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that retirees lacked Article III standing to challenge Verizon’s decision to terminate two defined benefit pension plans by purchasing group annuities from Prudential Insurance Co. of America and RGA Reinsurance Co. Hellerstein, a senior U.S....

German dentists’ pension fund sues advisers after C$1.77B loss

A pension fund for more than 10,000 German dentists has launched legal action against its former auditor, an external adviser and several ex-managers after suffering investment losses of over €1.1 billion (about C$1.77 billion), according to reporting by Bloomberg and AwazLive. Versorgungswerk der Zahnärztekammer Berlin (VZB), which manages roughly €2.2 billion (C$3.55 billion) for dentists in Berlin, Brandenburg and Bremen, said the losses were significant enough to prompt a corruption probe by Berlin prosecutors. In legal filings, the fund alleges that...

December 2025

Cananea Mine Strike Ends After 18 Years, Agreement Reached

After nearly two decades, the labor conflict at the Cananea mine has come to an end, as miners from Section 65 of Mexico’s National Miners’ Union unanimously approved a final agreement providing long-awaited compensation, access to social security and pensions, and a comprehensive resolution for more than 650 workers and their families. According to Section 65, the assembly unanimously endorsed the agreement, which followed negotiations involving the union, the federal government, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Labor and...

Lost Pensions, Lost Pensioners: Is a National Registry of Pension Plans the Answer?

By David P. Blake & John A. Turner In the United States and other countries, many retirees face great difficulties in tracing their former employers in order to apply for a pension to which they are entitled. At the same time, pension plans have trouble tracking down pensioners with whom they have lost contact. The problem of lost pensions and lost pensioners was also prevalent in the United Kingdom, but in 1991 the British government established a national registry of...

Germany. Bundestag Passes Second Act Strengthening Company Pensions

The aim of the BRSG II is the necessary expansion of company pension schemes in Germany and it contains important new regulations. The Act will come into force in several stages from 1 January 2026. The most important points are summarised here. Following lengthy deliberations, which were also delayed by the new Bundestag elections, the Bundestag passed the BRSG II on 5 December. In particular, the Act includes options for introducing opting-out systems at company level, higher settlement caps for...

​Sweden’s FI launches probe into costly individual occupational pensions

The Swedish financial watchdog is launching a new investigation into the cost of individual occupational pension products, after its government-mandated investment costs mapping exercise revealed these to be considerably more expensive than their collectively-agreed counterparts. The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen, FI) yesterday announced the probe as it published a 50-page report into fees and distribution in the Swedish mutual funds market. FI said: “Customers of big banks often pay more in fund fees, yet 85% of private savings are made...

October 2025

US. Amid Higher Funded Status, Pension Plans Consider Their Options

The assets of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans rose by $8 billion in August to $1.29 trillion, and the funded ratio of DB plans increased for the fifth consecutive month to 106.2%, according to data from Milliman. “[The current level of funding] is a significant milestone in the DB space, as the surplus funding gives plan sponsors more options for how to proceed with their plan, whether they want to continue operating their plan on a [liability-driven investment]...

Pilots at Germany’s Lufthansa set to strike over pension plans

Pilots at German airline Lufthansa have voted overwhelmingly to go on strike over the company's pension plans, the Cockpit Association said on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the union said a clear majority of members voted in favour of industrial action, which is set to affect the core Lufthansa Airlines brand and its freight subsidiary Lufthansa Cargo. The strike comes after union representatives and management failed to reach an agreement on pensions for the group's 4,800 pilots. No dates have yet been announced...