United Kingdom

UK - The Harrods Group's plan to shut its final salary pension scheme to new and existing workers in April 2006 has shocked its workforce, said the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G).

UK - Asset manager SEI has won a £16m global developed markets mandate and a £15m global equities mandate from two separate pension funds.

UK - BAE systems has reached an agreement with its staff to retain the final salary pension scheme and also tackle the £1.4bn deficit on the main pension scheme.

UK - If pre-hedging during transition management is outlawed, as stipulated in the latest draft of the UK's T-Charter, it could have a serious global impact, particularly for investment banks, industry experts claim.

UK - A proposal by ex-Prudential executive Mark Wood to buy out up to 50 closed corporate defined benefit pension schemes could appeal to corporates as a means of avoiding potentially confrontational relationships with trustees.

UK - Ed Britton has left Baring Asset Management, where he was director of fixed income and currencies, to join Watson Wyatt as a senior investment consultant.

UK - FTSE 100 pension scheme deficits fell by £11bn (14%) over two weeks in January, as the deficit dropped to £66bn on 31 January, from £77bn on 18 January.

UK - The £940m Bedfordshire County Council pension fund has appointed Barclays Global Investors (BGI) to a £50m global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) brief.

UK - The £1.8bn Staffordshire County Council pension fund has awarded a £250m global fixed income to Insight Investment and a £110m Asian active equity brief to the Russell Investment Group.

UK - Independent pricing and valuations outfit Markit has written to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) urging it to include credit derivates within its definition of contingent assets.