Many multinational companies are scrutinizing global investment policies and risk management strategies related to their retirement plans, according to a new Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey.

About 78 percent of companies surveyed reported that the efficient governance of worldwide pension plans is a major issue. Roughly 53 percent have reviewed their global governance procedures in the last three years, and of those, 83 percent changed their procedures as a result, the survey found. Concern over regulatory risk was the reason for the change 69 percent of the time.

Several multinational companies also reported that the consistency of their global pension strategies was an issue. Roughly 31 percent of respondents are considering moving toward a more consistent global investment policy for retirement plans, and 9 percent plan to implement a consistent global risk management policy during the next three years.

The study included data collected in the fall of 2006 from 101 multinational companies with pension plans in several countries.

Filed by Pensions & Investments, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.