United Kingdom

UK - Citigroup's acquisition of the sponsor company for the UK-based Thomson Regional Newspaper pension fund has been branded as a copy-cat opportunistic move by Pensions Corporation.

UK - David Crum, the chief pensions officer for investments at Strathclyde Pension Fund, has left the organisation to join Hewitt Associates. He will join the investment team at Hewitt on 1 October.

Transport for London has refuted claims by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) that by agreeing to a "full pensions rescue" this led to the suspension of a planned three-day strike in the capital.

UK - Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, has hit back at the city's transport workers, saying a strike over employment and pensions should not proceed as their concerns have been met.

UK - Pooled fund of hedge funds made gains for the third consecutive quarter - but performed less well over the longer term when compared with UK equity pooled funds and property pooled portfolios, according to new statistics.

UK - A typical member in a defined contribution (DC) pension scheme could be missing out on as much as £3,600 a year, suggests new analysis.

UK - New statistics have highlighted that pension scheme deficits actually improved as a whole during August - despite the recent market turmoil.

UK - The Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council has issued a tender for an independent valuer for the property portfolio of the Greater Manchester pension fund.

UK - The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has made no further progress in its bid to recruit managers for a transition panel.

UK - Executives responsible for investing company final salary pension schemes still favour return seeking assets over liability matching, according to a Watson Wyatt report.