United Kingdom

UK - Insurers are warning that people will have to work longer to fund their retirement unless a massive savings gap can be closed.

UK - Pension funds cannot expect auditors to blow the whistle on failing or corrupt companies, a leading corporate governance expert claims.

UK - Only around 10% of smokers take up the better annuity rates on offer to them, new research shows.

UK - The £483m Cardiff & Vale Glamorgan Pension Fund is searching for an investment adviser to sit on its advisory panel.

UK - Property has outperformed all other asset classes with returns 88% higher than equities over the last five years.

UK - A new guide aimed at helping pension scheme trustees meet Principles set out by the Myners' report has been launched by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).

UK - Institutional investors including UK pension funds could be paying up to three times more to brokers and investment managers in transaction costs, according to a new study by HSBC's Global Investor Services (GIS), the firm's custody unit.

UK - Two thirds of UK pension fund trustees have never been subjected to a performance review or even expect to, according to research carried out by consultants Watson Wyatt and the Cranfield School of Management.

UK - Unrealistic expectations about pensions benefits are bringing the system into disrepute, the head of the government's simplification review warns.

UK - London Borough of Hackney Superannuation Fund has received clearance to appoint an investment consultant to search for new managers, probably to run bonds, following a review of asset allocation due to finish in June.