United Kingdom

UK - Current proposals for the UK's national pensions savings scheme (NPSS) fail to address vital issues including fraud and employer insolvency, according to the architect of the Australian mandatory model.

UK - The Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority has issued a tender to streamline the administration of its new pension scheme in conjunction with its previous one.

UK - Specialist currency manager A G Bisset & Company has set up a London based operation as it seeks to follow up on the local authority mandate it won earlier this year.

UK - BAE Systems has announced in its interim results statement that its pension deficit has decreased from £4.1bn to £3.1bn in the six months from 31 December 2005 to 30 June 2006.

EUROPE - Companies' pensions liabilities have become a plague to the private equity industry, claimed a survey commissioned by Mercer Human Resource Consulting and Marsh and Kroll.

UK - Investment Gateway, the new Watson Wyatt investment strategy for defined contribution (DC) pension schemes, has broken the £1bn barrier, with the consultant claiming to have around 15 clients committed.

UK - OTC derivatives, 'added-value' products and pooled funds were the three principle areas where UK investment managers had operational concerns, according to the results of a survey carried out by Investit Intelligence.

UK - BNP Paribas has appointed Tony Osborn-Barker as global head of pensions as it seeks to demonstrate its commitment to the pensions sector.

UK - Although the two-month postponement of the implementation of the new age discrimination regulations was welcomed by the pensions industry, some claimed the delay will bring about a further period of uncertainity.

UK - "The proposed National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS) is the best model for creating a simple pensions scheme for those who are currently not saving," according to the Investment Management Association (IMA) in its response to the government White...