United Kingdom

UK - Proposed updates to the Myners' principles should not add to the overall cost and administrative burden of running a pension plan, Watson Wyatt has warned.

UK - Pension and sovereign wealth funds are amongst those shoring up Barclays' balance sheet as main buyers of the bank's £4.5bn (US$8.8bn) share issuance today.

UK - Over one in four (29%) employees are unaware of pension tax relief, according to the National Association of Pension Funds' (NAPF) Workplace Pensions Survey.

UK - The government has moved to clampdown on companies that force or encourage workers not to save in a workplace pension.

UK - Investment style is going to become an increasing focus for UK pension funds who have suffered from a value bias in their global equities portfolios, according to global asset manager MFS Investment Management.

UK - New data shows retirees could see their pension savings swallowed up by basic living costs within 20 years of retirement, according to Standard Life.

UK - The current dip in pension fund buyout prices will become unsustainable as investors demand higher returns, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

UK - Pension scheme member nominated trustees and other stakeholders must be included in the review of the Myners principles, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and pressure group FairPensions have said.

UK - The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has committed $600m to private equity investments in North America through Constitution Capital Partners (CPP) and taken a 10% stake in the firm.

UK - FTSE has launched an Environmental Opportunities All-Share Index, designed to benchmark companies with a 'significant' involvement in the environmental technology and exposure to environmental opportunities.