Europe

UK - Marconi has doubled the allocation of bonds in its £2.35m final salary pension scheme over the past 18 months.

UK - Standard & Poor's has published its largest ever assessment of the work of the investment professionals in charge of managed mixed funds.

FRANCE - Société Générale is to provide Allianz-owned AGF with global custody and trustee services to some E70bn assets.

UK - P3 Corporate Pensions Software has launched the first off-the-shelf pensions administration system.

UK - A major trade union has accused employers of "stealth cuts" in scheme contributions.

BELGIUM - Belgian pensions funds have kept their nerve amid falling equity markets and seem to be sticking to their allocations.

UK - Neptune Investment Management has rejected claims that a UK mainland terrorist attack would drive the FTSE100 down to 3000.

UK - The government is urging employers to disclose their pensions arrangements when advertising vacancies in a bid to promote occupational schemes as a market-competitive tool.

UK - Pension funds can cut investment costs by improving their trading practices, Axa Investment Managers says.

UK - Few funds have escaped lightly from the global deterioration in pension funds' balance sheets, a review by Watson Wyatt shows.