United Kingdom

UK - Royal Mail Group has blamed its disappointing profits for the 2006-07 year on a £193m (US$401m) rise in pension fund costs.

UK - Liverpool City Council has voted unanimously in favour of pulling its pension fund out of arms investments - the first time a UK council has passed such a resolution.

UK - Members of the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) will discuss the T-Charter at the next Investment Council meeting.

UK - Half of the top 200 pension funds are in surplus to the combined tune of £3bn (US$6.2bn), according to figures released by Aon Consulting.

UK - The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has appointed Peter Walker as director of its delivery directorate.

UK - Welsh Rhondda Cynon Taf local government pension scheme has appointed Record Currency Management as active currency manager.

UK - The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has appointed David McCourt as policy adviser for investment and governance.

UK - Nearly half of all UK employers with defined contribution (DC) pension schemes were considering making changes to their arrangements, according to a survey by the CBI and Watson Wyatt.

UK - The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has announced it would focus on reducing long term risks by adopting more prudent mortality assumptions.

UK - Strong, long term gains could be had in the commercial property market thanks to current market jitters, according to fund of funds manager F&C.