Europe

UK - The Transport & General Workers' Union is urging the government to increase the compensation package for workers who lost pension savings when their firms collapsed.

UK - The £579 Medical Research Council Pension Trust has dropped balanced managers Deutsche Asset Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Management, following a review of its investment strategy.

UK - Standard Life has appointed group finance director John Hylands to head up the project team that will demutualise the company.

UK - CLASS members voted unanimously to increase their annual contributions to meet new demands on computerised pensions administration in the Local Government Pension Scheme.

UK - Companies are increasingly considering the option of replacing corporate pension plans with a cash alternative and letting individuals take full responsibility for planning for an income in retirement, according to new research.

FINLAND - The 2005 pension reforms will reduce pension expenditure in relation to earnings in the national economy by over eight percentage points, according to Hannu Uusitalo, director at the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

UK - A good benefits package has become a bigger attraction than a high salary, conference delegates were told.

UK - Software provider Dunstan Thomas has produced a guide to customer relationship management.

UK - As life expectancy rises and birth rates decline, an increase in the retirement age will inevitably rise, according to Mercer.

UK - Final salary pensions will remain the preferred option for company directors after the new tax regime takes effect in 2006, a study by Lane Clark & Peacock shows.