United Kingdom

UK - Cllr Ian Greenwood has been appointed as chairman of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) following its annual general meeting on Wednesday.

UK - Changes to the way pension fund assets and liabilities are calculated and reported have been set out in a discussion paper from the Accounting Standards Board (ASB).

UK - The Railway Pensions Commission has published its final report recommending changes to the Railways Pension Scheme (RPS).

UK - Standard Life's chief executive of UK financial services Trevor Matthews quit, as the firm announced its new business results for the past 12 months.

UK - Cambridgeshire County Council has placed £700m (€942m) of equity portfolios out to tender after reporting dissatisfaction with its previous asset managers UBS and Schroders.

UK - The number of defined benefit (DB) schemes that remain open has stayed steady, according to latest National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) annual survey.

UK - The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) has launched a consultation on the charging structure of personal accounts.

UK - Sales of enhanced annuities rose by 35% last year to pass £1bn (€1.34bn) for the first time.

UK - Pension scheme deficits showed significant improvement in 2007, despite returns on UK pension assets falling to their lowest level in five years.

UK - Pension funds will continue the move to invest in absolute return strategies during 2008, according to Hewitt Associates.