Europe

UK - Pension Protection Fund costs could be slashed by 20-40% if the government axes special rates for pensioners, the National Association of Pension Funds claims.

UK - Mercer Human Resource Consulting's £8m contract with Profund Systems has been terminated by the firm's successor.

UK - Companies will have to increase pension contributions because many schemes have underestimated their liabilities by up to 10%, consultants warn.

UK - Morley Fund Management has appointed Martin Cawthorne and Lloyd Whitworth as fund managers in its UK equities team.

UK - BBC Scotland has sold its new Glasgow headquarters before it has been built to a consortium of pension funds and private investors for £129m.

UK - Gartmore Investment Management has launched its 13th standalone hedge fund, a European quantitative equity fund aimed at institutional investors.

UK - The current system of executive remuneration is equivalent to "paying people to lie", a paper commissioned by oil giant BP claims.

UK - Bluebay Asset Management has established a new structured products and fund derivatives group.

UK - The next 12 months could be the most important ever for the pensions industry, the Pensions Management Institute claims.

UK - Unfunded public sector pension scheme liabilities have jumped by more than 50% to around £580bn, Watson Wyatt claims.