United Kingdom

UK - Investec Asset Management, the liquidity managers with 115 local authority clients, today welcomed the proposal by the government allowing local authorities to invest in money market funds, believing this to be long overdue.

UK - Inadequate national insurance rebates are not the only factor that will encourage companies to move their employees back into the state earnings-related pensions scheme (SERPS), according to Watson Wyatt. It is the political risk of further changes...

UK - Thousands of people in money purchase pension schemes are in for a shock next year when new actuarial rules reduce their expected retirement pots by more than half.

UK - William M Mercer is organising the following courses and seminars over the next few months:

EUROPE/UK - New York-based currency manager FX Concepts has launched two new funds designed to provide European investment managers with a vehicle through which to hedge currency risk on US dollar and Japanese yen denominated investments.

UK - The £750m pension fund of Gallaher, the international tobacco manufacturing firm, has dumped Cazenove from a £110m UK equity brief and appointed Fidelity Investments in its place. The switch took place last month.

UK - The £440m London Borough of Haringey Superannuation Fund has appointed Northern Trust as its global custodian.

UK - Dunnett Shaw & Partners (DSP) is running two half-day seminars on DC pensions operations in Manchester on March 5 and in London on March 12.

UK - The £1.1bn East Sussex County Council Pension Fund has interviewed three candidates so far for its global custodian brief and will review its investment managers within the next 12 months.

UK - Friends Ivory & Sime is urging pension funds to use their shareholding muscle to encourage firms to tighten up their bribery and corruption policies.