United Kingdom

UK - The introduction of personal accounts to parliament this week, as part of the new Pensions Bill, has been welcomed by industry with a warning that there are still challenges to be overcome.

Employers will be required to contribute to a pension scheme on behalf of their workers, as part of legislation introduced to parliament in today's Queen's speech.

Moves by Royal Mail to clear its £5bn pension deficit within 17 years will still leave a hole of almost £2.9bn, according to analysis by independent pension consultant John Ralfe.

UK - Institutional shareholders could be hindered from attending, speaking and voting at company meetings unless urgent amendments are made to the new Companies Act, the government has been warned.

UK - The total deficit of FTSE100 pension schemes has improved £44bn in the last year, but deficits could be underestimated by £40m, according to Pension Capital Strategies' (PCS) quarterly report.

UK - Government proposals which aim to stop the decline of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes will fail to achieve their goal but could leave some workers thousands of pounds worse off, according to Standard Life.

UK - The UK arm of the Philips Pension Fund is considering hiring a fiduciary manager, according to industry sources.

UK - Qatari investment company Delta Two has abandoned its takeover bid for supermarket J Sainsbury's, blaming poor credit markets and issues with funding its pension scheme.

UK - Alternative investment managers, Stenham, has appointed John Long as institutional business development manager.

UK - Pension Corporation's take over of Marconi remnant telent continued to falter as the Takeover Panel granted a further extension to the buyout company's consultation period and the option of leaving the deal completely.