United Kingdom

UK - Rising inflation has significantly added to pension fund liabilities, while market fundamentals and technical signals look "ominous", according to research by consultant firm Redington Partners.

UK - Mercer has been appointed investment consultant to the trustees of Manweb Group's £800m (US$1.5bn) defined benefit Electricity Supply Pension Scheme.

UK - The government claims it has made significant progress on pensioner poverty, despite its latest statistics showing the number of pensioners in relative poverty has risen.

UK - New trends in longevity have forced actuaries to reassess mortality patterns, which may have wide ranging consequences for pension policy, an academic has claimed.

UK - Around 10% of private sector workers would be willing to take a pay cut to work in the public sector in order to secure the benefits of a final salary pension scheme, research has found.

UK - The aggregate funding position of pension funds improved by £23.1bn (US$45.6bn) in May but was still down on the same time last year.

UK - The selection of currency managers based on past performance has led to a clash of opinions between a leading consultancy and fund management firm.

UK - The £600m (US$1.1bn) Delta Pension Plan has announced it has transferred the majority of the liabilities of its defined benefit (DB) scheme to the Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC).

UK - Cardiff pension fund has appointed Barclays Global Investors (BGI) as transition manager.

UK - Changes to retirement savings laws due to come into effect in 10 months time could lead to savers facing significant tax penalties, according to Watson Wyatt.