Description: In the past, we have seen changes to regulations which have been perceived to negatively impact pensions. However, during the euro crisis, we have seen governments undertake austerity measures which dramatically reduce pension benefits in a way never seen before in Europe, at times even going as far as to confiscate pension assets in order to fill government coffers.

Description: In a world where pensions for new hires are predominantly provided with defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans have moved in many cases from being a strategic human resource management tool to being a source of volatile historic liabilities and costs that need to be managed downward. While the approaches for dealing with these liabilities broadly consist of risk transfer, settlement or funding, the precise options available will vary by country depending on the local pension framework and legal requirements. Any company with material global pension liabilities would be well advised to monitor these closely, in order to be able to take advantage of opportunities to de-risk, and to ensure that a global pension de-risking budget is allocated to the activities which are expected to yield the best returns for the group.