Europe

UK - Two seminars on how to close or wind-up pension schemes for both solvent and insolvent employers are being held in July.

UK - Schemes will be able to save up to £900m in trading costs as part of an FSA clampdown on fund managers and soft commission costs.

UK - Bedlam Asset Management's UK equities fund has returned approximately 0.2% for the four months to the end of March.

FRANCE - Northern Trust Global Investments has bagged an advisory mandate from Groupama Asset Management in Paris. The mandate will cover US equity mandates totalling US$300m in large- and mid cap assets.

UK - Retail giant Boots - which stunned the pensions industry by its 100% move to bonds - is considering a switch back to equities, it can be revealed.

UK/EUROPE - Unsurprisingly, for the third straight year in a row, fixed income securities proved to be a better investment than shares, according to the Barclays Equity Gilt Study.

UK - Government proposals for pension reform will make "little difference" to the number of retired women living on the breadline, the Equal Opportunities Commission claims.

UK - Computing giant EDS has closed its final salary scheme to new members in a bid to remain competitive in a battle for a major contract.

UK - Lawyers are warning firms to be wary over government advice to flag-up pension benefits in recruitment advertising.

UK - Independent financial adviser Elite Strategies is expanding its services in the corporate market through the acquisition of Croesus Financial Services.