Europe

UK - The £400m Roche Products Pension Fund has lambasted consultants Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow (HB&W) and has decided to sever a 24 year relationship with the firm.

UK - Charity Help the Aged is closing its final salary scheme to new members.

UK - Creating a legislative "fortress" around those in pension schemes will condemn millions to live without a decent retirement income, Simplification Review chief Alan Pickering warns.

UK/IRELAND - Hewitt Associates and Bacon & Woodrow have formally integrated their businesses in the UK and Ireland following the finalisation of their merger.

UK - Aon Consulting has hired David White and Peter Hill-King to join its investment manager research team.

UK - KLegal has appointed Duncan Buchanan as a London-based partner for pensions and benefits.

EUROPE - The European Commission has launched a public consultation to help encourage supplementary pension provision and cross-border job mobility.

UK - Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) has appointed Steven Blackie as a relationship manager for UK pension funds.

EUROPE - Fidelity Investment Services has topped the annual Thomson Financial Extel survey of European fund management houses for the second year running.

UK - Amicus, the UK's largest private sector union, said it will back members who chose to strike in order to save their pensions.