http://www.watsonwyatt.com/news/pressreleases.asp Latest Watson Wyatt Press Releases en-us Copyright 2005 Watson Wyatt Worldwide http://backend.userland.com/rss091 Thursday, 11 Mar 2010 13:03:22 EST 20 http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22910Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby, Inc. and Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ: WW), both leading global consulting firms, announced that at their respective special meetings of shareholders, each held earlier today, their shareholders adopted the merger agreement pursuant to which the companies will combine their businesses. Approximately 97% of the shares of Towers Perrin common stock issued and outstanding as of November 2, 2009, the record date for Towers Perrin’s special meeting, were voted in favor of adoption of the merger agreement. In addition, Watson Wyatt shareholders approved the combined company’s long term incentive plan. Approximately 99% of the shares of Watson Wyatt Class A common stock present and entitled to be cast on November 3, 2009, the record date for Watson Wyatt’s special meeting, were voted in favor of adopting the merger agreement, and approximately 85% were voted in favor of the long term incentive plan. [Global]Friday, 18 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22910http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22884Watson Wyatt’s investment outlook for 2010 [Europe]Thursday, 17 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22884http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22888The number of employers planning to offer annuities to participants in their 401(k) plans is expected to grow as companies look for ways to provide workers with a steady distribution of benefits during retirement, according to a survey by Watson Wyatt, a leading global consulting firm. This finding comes on the heels of an announcement by the Department of Labor in early December that it will explore steps it can take to encourage employers to offer lifetime annuities or similar lifetime distribution options in their defined contribution (DC) plans. [United States]Thursday, 17 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22888http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22859UK - December 15, 2009 - Watson Wyatt has recruited Paul Herbert from Hewitt Associates to its Defined Contribution (DC) team, which brings the number of new associates hired into its Investment business since August to 27. [Europe]Tuesday, 15 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22859http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22868As companies prepare for the economic recovery, many are poised to enter 2010 with renewed interest in improving their HR technology systems, processes and organizational structures, according to experts at Watson Wyatt, a leading global consulting firm. [United States]Tuesday, 15 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22868http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22869Sales of enhanced annuities fell to £415.8 million in the third quarter of 2009, a decline of 7 per cent relative to the previous quarterly figure of £447.7 million, according to research by consultants Watson Wyatt. [Europe]Tuesday, 15 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22869http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22858UK - December 14, 2009 - The coming year will be another challenging one for UK pensions professionals, according to Watson Wyatt. The firm believes there will be five key trends during 2010. [Europe]Monday, 14 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22858http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22861UK - December 14, 2009 – The pure protection market in the UK will shrink if the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) is directly read across to it, according to senior insurance executives attending a debate hosted by Watson Wyatt [Europe]Monday, 14 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22861http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22863UK – December 14, 2009 – Less than a week after the Chancellor announced another delay to the timetable for introducing the Government’s pension reforms, it has been reported that one of the two remaining bidders to supply administration services to the new personal accounts scheme has dropped out. [Europe]Monday, 14 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22863http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22857UK - December 13, 2009 - The Government’s estimates of future public sector pension costs assume that a substantial increase in the size of the UK population will not require any increase in the number of people employed in public services, according to Watson Wyatt. [Europe]Sunday, 13 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22857http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22840UK - December 10, 2009 - The Chancellor's announcement on public sector pensions concerns savings that have already been banked and will not make an additional contribution to curbing the budget deficit, according to Watson Wyatt. [Europe]Thursday, 10 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22840http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22825WASHINGTON, D.C., December 9, 2009 — U.S. employees saw the fair value of their new company stock option awards decline by nearly 10 percent last year, according to a recent analysis by Watson Wyatt, a leading global consulting firm. [United States]Wednesday, 9 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22825http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22834UK - December 9, 2009 - The Government has said that it will save £0.1 billion in 2012/13, £0.7 billion in 2013/14 and £1.6 billion in 2014/15 through a “change to the implementation of private pension reform, including to the timetable for employers joining the reform” (p11 and p85). [Europe]Wednesday, 9 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22834http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22837The vast majority of Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs) are an unattractive long-term investment option for most institutional investors according to Watson Wyatt, a leading global consultant. The firm says that while the development of the sector has driven a great deal of product innovation, institutional investors should consider ETFs in conjunction with alternative options because ETFs generally have higher fees than many institutional index products; may have tax implications that require specialist advice; and often contain counterparty risks which investors may not be compensated for. The firm also suggests that there is a great deal of development within indexation, which is likely to offer passive investors a broader range of options and better risk-adjusted returns than those currently available. [Asia-Pacific]Wednesday, 9 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22837http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22810GLOBAL, December 7, 2009 — As the financial crisis spread over the U.S. economy, some industries absorbed the impact better than the rest. The aerospace and defense (A&D) sector has been one of the strongest in sales and employment growth during the past year, reporting record figures in a time of generalized market failure. Still, the poor performance of markets saw pension risk skyrocketing, according to the special A&D issue of Visions, a Watson Wyatt global research publication. [Global]Tuesday, 8 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22810http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22812The vast majority of Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs) are an unattractive long-term investment option for most institutional investors according to Watson Wyatt, a leading global consultant. [Europe]Tuesday, 8 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22812http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22791UK – December 7, 2009 -The increasing number of Defined Contribution (DC) scheme members approaching retirement age without sufficient savings will drive innovation for post retirement solutions according to a new paper from Watson Wyatt. [Europe]Monday, 7 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22791http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22799WASHINGTON, D.C., December 7, 2009 — In order to communicate messages to workers in a complex business environment, a majority of companies plan to increase their use of social media in the coming year, according to a survey by Watson Wyatt, a leading global consulting firm. [United States]Monday, 7 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22799http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22788Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby, Inc. and Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ: WW), both leading global consulting firms, today announced that they have been granted conditional clearance from the European Commission to allow the Parties to proceed with their merger to form Towers Watson & Co. U.S. antitrust authorities previously cleared the transaction. [Global]Friday, 4 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22788http://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22790UK – December 4, 2009 – Sales of variable annuities fell significantly in the third quarter of 2009, according to research from consultants Watson Wyatt. Third quarter variable annuity sales in the UK were £143.1million compared to the second quarter total of £343.7 million. [Europe]Friday, 4 Dec 2009 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.watsonwyatt.com/search/parser.asp?ID=22790