United Kingdom

UK - Pensions reform minister Mike O'Brien has been replaced by Rosie Winterton as part of Gordon Brown's government reshuffle.

UK - Employee confidence in pensions as a way of saving for retirement has improved from 3% to 22% during 2008, a survey by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has found.

UK - The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has attacked proposed new accounting rules for pension schemes as 'premature' and potentially damaging to the long term viability of defined contribution (DB) schemes.

UK - The Pensions Regulator has published its conflicts of interest guidance , designed to help trustees of occupational pension schemes and employers identify, monitor and manage the issue.

UK - Almost a third of institutional investors plan to increase their allocation to commodity-based Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) over the next five years, according to Lyxor.

UK - Defined benefit (DB) pension schemes are still in deficit but funding bounced back by £19bn ($34bn) last month, despite the market turmoil, according to Aon Consulting.

UK - The Pensions Management Institute is warning trustees they may still be liable for pension funds that have been wholly bought out, despite the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) claiming it would step in if an insurer went bust.

UK - Claims that private equity firms are driving pension funds into the control of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) have been challenged by new research.

UK - Clarity from the Pensions Regulator (TPR) on the calculation of transfer values for defined benefit schemes has been welcomed, but with a warning it may not go far enough.

UK - A decreasing number of defined contribution (DC) pension sponsors and trustees consider their provider to be offering a poor service, a survey by Watson Wyatt has found.