Bleak as the news may be from Japan, in the U.K. companies are taking advantage of lower costs to transfer risk from their old pension plans to insurers. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Pension funds on the international front have snared plenty of headlines, what with dismal news from Japan, actions to shed holdings by Denmark and risk by the U.K. and the embrace of wind projects in Russia.

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe narrowly survived a censure motion after he refused to accept a report suggesting pensions are inadequate for most retirees. The measure, according to the Japan Times, “was intended to challenge the Abe government’s reluctance to address public concerns about the sustainability of the public pension system.”

A report in the Asahi Shimbun found that 68 percent of voters were “dissatisfied” with the government’s handling of the report that found public pension payments would fail to sustain people in retirement.