United Kingdom

UK - The gilts crisis, which has left UK pension funds with rapidly escalating deficits, has been attributed to regulation and changes in how deficits are calculated, with one expert claiming funds were in effect being forced to hedge against an accounting...

UK - The £900m Somerset County Council pension fund is seeking a currency manager to help hedge its currency exposure, and to undertake an active currency overlay to generate alpha.

UK - A National Pensions Day, likely to be held in March, will let the public have their say on the future of the nation's pensions.

UK - Hermes Pensions Management has announced a £1bn commodities investment on behalf of its owner and client, the £34bn BT Pension Scheme (BTPS).

UK - The National Australia Group, which owns Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank, has announced plans to tackle its £426m UK deficit by replacing its three UK defined benefit schemes with a career average structure, effective from April.

UK - Fixed income manager PIMCO has been appointed by the Pension and Life Assurance Plan of Savills (PLAPS) to manage an £11m bond mandate.

UK - The £550m Westminster City Council pension fund has tendered for five specialist managers, citing a decision to restructure, and the performance of existing managers Aberdeen and Henderson as the reasons prompting their search.

UK - Mortality linked securities can aid pension schemes more effectively hedge their longevity risks, according to leading pensions and actuarial experts in the UK

UK - New legislation will put an end to companies enforcing "major changes" to its pension schemes without first consulting its employees, said pensions reform minister Stephen Timms.

UK - Old Mutual Asset Managers has appointed two new research analysts to boost its quantitative research capability,