United Kingdom

UK - The £950m Bedfordshire County Council pension fund has tendered a new £100m global equities portfolio, and has also made a £50m allocation to commodities.

UK - Around 75% of companies with defined benefit schemes are suffering a significant or severe drop in profits due to spiralling pension costs, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Mercer Human Resource Consulting has found.

UK - The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has announced it will use the Economic Scenario Generator (ESG) financial modelling software for its pensions modelling and risk management.

UK - Synesis Life, the most recently launched pension annuity bulk buy-out vehicle, has said it is likely to win approval from the UK regulator.

UK - Paul Thornton has joined Gazelle as MD of its pensions advisory business, having recently retired from Watson Wyatt after 32 years.

UK -Talk of the UK government's National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS) restricting savers primarily to index funds has provoked fears for their market resilience.

UK - The £1.1bn UK Cadbury Schweppes pension fund is considering shifting 10% of its assets into alternatives, with infrastructure a strong candidate, as it seeks to diversify its portfolio.

UK - Goldman Sachs has withdrawn its support for the UK transition management's T-Charter after failing to reconcile differences with members of the sub-committee responsible for drafting the code, Global Pensions can exclusively reveal.

UK - Faced with rising debts, young people are choosing a "quick financial fix" over the long term security of a sound pension scheme, research has revealed.

UK - Members of the Turner and Newall pension scheme are set to have their retirement benefits reduced to Pension Protection Fund levels of compensation.