SENIOR company management must tackle pensions issues in a more proactive way, financial services firm Price-waterhouseCoopers warns.

STANDARD Life UK life and pensions sales rose 35pc on 2005 to almost £1bn during the first nine months of the year, latest company figures reveal.

THE COMBINED pensions deficit of the UK's 200 largest defined benefit schemes rose by £1bn in October to £52bn, Aon Consulting says.

BOSSES are set to dampen the Christmas spirit by banning parties for staff, says employment specialist Peninsula Businesswise.

LANE Clark & Peacock has launched a "prudence index" which allows trustees to compare their funding position to other schemes.

In last week's Professional Pensions, a headline incorrectly stated there were Fears for scheme viability as Remploy factories close.

SECURED loans could provide schemes with added returns from their fixed income portfolios amid weakening credit markets, Henderson Global Inves-tors believes.

FORMER Barclays Private Bank global sales director Jan Floyd-Douglass has been appointed as head of corporate pensions at Zurich, PP can reveal.

LABOUR MP Tony Wright has called on the government to create a rescue package for scheme wind-up victims.

TRADE union Unison is planning a special conference to discuss proposed changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme.