Europe

UK - Hymans Robertson has appointed Andrew Callis and Peter Kane as senior consultants to boost its employee benefits team.

UK/EU - A bitter row over pension rights for agency workers has flared between employers and trade unions.

UK - Guernsey law firm Carey Langolis has hired Christian Wharton to join the company's London office to expand its offshore pension and benefits practice.

EUROPE - Alternative asset manager Partners Group has held an initial closing of E137m for Premier, a convertible bond with an underlying fund of managed hedge funds accounts, offering the investor daily liquidity at NAV.

UK - Hermes Property Asset Management has sold 13 high-street retail properties to Axa Real Estate Investment Management for more than £43m.

UK - Pension funds have criticised moves by the Institute of Chartered Accountants to cut auditors' contracts from seven years to five for not being radical enough.

UK - Standard & Poor's is integrating its websites.

UK - The financial services sector has had to cut costs to boost profitability as a result of declining business volumes, a new survey reveals.

UK - Barnett Waddingham partner Mark Howard has been elected as the new chairman of the Association of Pensioneer Trustees.

UK - Liberty Ermitage has promoted Jonathan Wauton, a director of Liberty Ermitage, to the new role of head of risk management and quantitative analysis, reporting to Ian Cadby, deputy CIO and head of strategic investments.