Europe

UK - Insurers are warning that people will have to work longer to fund their retirement unless a massive savings gap can be closed.

UK - Pension funds cannot expect auditors to blow the whistle on failing or corrupt companies, a leading corporate governance expert claims.

UK/EUROPE - The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has come out in favour of EU plans for an integrated financial services market, saying that the UK insurance industry is better placed than its European counterparts to benefit from the move.

UK - Only around 10% of smokers take up the better annuity rates on offer to them, new research shows.

UK - The £483m Cardiff & Vale Glamorgan Pension Fund is searching for an investment adviser to sit on its advisory panel.

UK - Property has outperformed all other asset classes with returns 88% higher than equities over the last five years.

UK - A new guide aimed at helping pension scheme trustees meet Principles set out by the Myners' report has been launched by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).

UK - Institutional investors including UK pension funds could be paying up to three times more to brokers and investment managers in transaction costs, according to a new study by HSBC's Global Investor Services (GIS), the firm's custody unit.

UK - Two thirds of UK pension fund trustees have never been subjected to a performance review or even expect to, according to research carried out by consultants Watson Wyatt and the Cranfield School of Management.

UK - Unrealistic expectations about pensions benefits are bringing the system into disrepute, the head of the government's simplification review warns.