United Kingdom

UK - Legal & General Investment Management has bagged a £240m passive global equity mandate (with a UK bias) at the £430m Northumberland County Council Pension Fund.

UK - Fund managers should brace themselves for profit margins waning by almost half should current market trends continue, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

UK - Gartmore has appointed Paul Skinner to the newly created role of head of fixed income business development.

UK - Many institutional shareholders are failing to exercise responsible ownership and should be forced to report on how they use their voting rights, according to an annual survey by Pensions Investment Research Consultants (PIRC).

UK - Global investment services firm Frank Russell has given its green light to the final form of the Myners' code.

UK - The £8.5m Blagden Pension Scheme will be wound up following an agreement between the scheme and the chemical company's liquidators.

UK - Schroder Property Investment Management has launched its latest property investment vehicle, Gresham Property Partners, L.P.

UK - New Frank Russell research on the portfolio transition management business has revealed a wide gap between promised cost estimates and delivered performance.

UK - Barclays Global Investors (BGI) has won two mandates from British Telecom's new defined contribution (DC) scheme, the British Telecom Retirement Plan (BTRP).

UK - Morley Pooled Pensions, the pooled pensions business of Morley Fund Management, has launched four new aggressive funds: