Europe

UK - Engineering firm GKN is to pump an additional £20m into its pension fund in a bid to plug a mounting £622m scheme deficit.

UK - Clerical Medical has revised bonus rates for its with-profits policies - reducing pension policy bonuses from 3.5% to 3%.

UK - Software company Spirent has revealed a £50m deficit on its £110m DB pension scheme.

UK - More than three-quarters of trustees want their training programmes to be improved, research from F&C Management reveals.

UK - The National Association of Pension Forums will hold its annual dinner on November 20 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster, London.

UK - State Street Global Advisors has devised an active gilt strategy specifically aimed at UK pension fund investors.

FRANCE - The French Socialist Party is calling for a review of the country's controversial pensions reform bill.

UK - Government proposals to reform local government pension scheme rules will "make life more complicated" for administering authorities, Punter Southall warns.

UK - Baring Asset Management is withdrawing from Fitch's institutional fund manager ratings - despite having the second highest rating from the agency.

UK - A Cambridge-based life sciences venture capital group has closed its sixth fund on US$325m (£200m), nearly 30% of which came from pension fund investors.