Europe

UK - Mercer Human Resources Consulting is holding a half-day seminar in Birmingham on communicating pay and benefits through personalised statements.

UK - Closure costs are forcing many smaller companies to keep their defined benefit schemes open, law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain claims.

UK - Merrill Lynch Investment Managers has appointed Christopher Wyllie as fund manager in its UK core equity team.

UK - Defined benefit schemes will continue to account for the majority of occupational pensions assets for at least a decade, UBS Global Asset Management predicts.

UK - Goldman Sachs Asset Management has appointed Paul Richards as executive director for UK institutional business development.

UK - High street chemist Boots has an FRS17 surplus of £200m on its £2.2bn pension scheme, figures for the year to the end of March show.

UK - State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has ousted Barclays Global Investors as the largest institutional fund manager in the world, a new survey shows.

SCOTLAND - Scottish fire brigades are facing an £11m shortfall in their pension schemes, union leaders warn.

UK - Treasury opposition has pushed publication of Alan Pickering's Simplification Review back to late July "at the earliest", according to industry sources.

UK - Trustees should start preparing themselves for the introduction of statutory money purchase illustrations in April next year, Watson Wyatt says.