UK - The government may have missed yet another opportunity to solve the growing pensions crisis, according to a senior partner at actuaries and consultants Barnet Waddingham.

UK - Northern Trust has been re-appointed as custodian of the £10bn (US$19.7bn) Strathclyde pension fund, a position it has held for the past decade.

IRELAND - Poor performances by Irish equities markets and over exposure to these stocks have contributed to an average fall among Irish managed pension funds of 3.8% in 2007, according to Hewitt Associates.

UK - The number of defined benefit (DB) schemes closing to new entrants or further accrual hit a plateau in 2007, according to the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).

IRELAND - Pension funds fell victim to the national stock exchange and lost up to €4bn in 2007, according to Mercer.

US - The Sacramento County Employees' Retirement System (SCERS) has scaled down its US equities and fixed income exposure by 5% each and created an opportunities portfolio to diversify its investments.

UK - The investment arm of HSBC has appointed three new members to its institutional team in a bid to improve its client offering.

UK - Standard Life aired its concerns over the Pensions Bill 2007 as the proposals were submitted to the House of Commons for the second reading stage.

Individuals must save for later life to avoid the "nightmare of a pensions crisis", secretary of state for work and pensions Peter Hain warns.

HEWITT Associates has opened a new Edinburgh office in a bid to boost its investment consulting operations in Scotland.