Europe

UK - Aon Consulting has issued a guide to the disclosure requirements of the Pensions Act 1995.

FRANCE - Watson Wyatt has appointed Simon Desrochers as head of its benefits consulting team in France.

UK - Changes to the minimum funding requirement were yesterday welcomed by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) as a practical solution to some of the serious issues faced by UK pension schemes.

UK - The British Telecom Pension Scheme (BTPS) is set to conduct an asset liability study in the second quarter, Colin Hartridge-Price, scheme secretary and chief pensions officer, said.

UK - Prudential chief executive Jonathan Bloomer has declared 2001 as "another year of considerable success and achievement", as total achieved profits rose 15% to £1,186m.

EUROPE - UNICO Asset Management is to introduce a new series of index funds to the market in March, aimed at European institutional investors.

UK - London based hedge fund manager Aspect Capital has launched a master fund through which investors can have access to all of its strategies.

UK - Local authority pension managers are looking at amalgamating small local authorities in a bid to slash administration costs and improve member benefits.

UK - The Government's efforts to reform the Minimum Funding Requirement (MFR) have received a welcome boost from the Actuarial Profession's Pensions Board, which labelled them as "a helpful easing of the burdens on employers".

UK - HSBC is up for review as the £4.9bn West Yorkshire Pension Fund tenders its custodian and banking services.