United Kingdom

UK - Opposition parties are pledging their support for the Retirement Income Reform Campaign's (RIRC) call for unisex annuities.

UK - Schroder Property Investment Management has bought a portfolio of flats from Bromley Property Investments for £70m.

UK - Pensions ombudsman David Laverick wants trustees to be more open with members who are seeking ill-health pensions.

UK - Trustee confidence in fund managers has been rocked by the fall in equity markets and the recent spate of accountancy scandals.

UK - Consultant Lane Clarke & Peacock is holding a half-day seminar on how trustees have adapted to Myners' recommendations.

UK - Existing company stakeholder schemes will be undermined if the new generation of products proposed by the Sandler Review are introduced, consultants warn.

UK - Investment performance firm MSCI has started an index focussed solely on the Japanese market's Osaka Securities Exchange.

UK/EUROPE - Sarasin Investment Management has launched a new income fund o target real bond yields with an equity kicker.

UK - At least a third of Britons will have to work beyond 70 if they are to have the income they want in retirement, research by Axa shows.

UK - Consulting actuary Hazell Carr and Prudential are joining forces in a bid to increase their share of the corporate pensions market.