Europe

UK - A guide to the financial strength of companies offering with-profits policies has been published by the Wesleyan Assurance Society.

UK - Smaller insurers will have to merge if they are to keep a competitive advantage in the current marketplace, says Standard & Poor's.

UK - Alan Pickering's Simplification Report is a Canute-like attempt to stem the tide of defined benefit scheme closures, J. Sainsbury pension manager Geof Pearson claims.

UK - The £26bn British Coal Pension Schemes have sold Grenadier House, in Victoria, London, for £24.7m - a net yield of 7.1%.

UK/EUROPE - Law firm Wragge & Co is holding a series of training seminars on pension issues.

UK - Tremont Advisors has appointed Rupert Allan managing director of its UK-based subsidiary Tremont TASS (Europe).

UK - United Business Media is merging its two money purchase schemes in a bid to cut down on administration costs.

UK/EUROPE - Law firm Wragge & Co is holding a series of training seminars on pension issues.

UK - The pensions market is biased in favour of the wealthy while failing to reward the low-paid majority, according to right-wing think-tank the Adam Smith Institute.

UK - Traded endowment policies (TEP) should be considered as a top-up investment to sit alongside defined contribution pensions, says TEP marketmaker Policy Portfolio.