United Kingdom

UK - An emerging trend by UK pension funds to hire foreign managers to manage their assets is causing a shift in the ownership profile of UK public limited companies, according to State Street Global Advisors (SSgA).

UK - A majority of Britons favour a universal, flat-rate state pension along the lines of the citizen's pension model, says the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).

UK - Henderson Global has lost a £190m global balanced mandate with the £880m North Yorkshire Pension Fund on the back of an investment strategy review linked to its triennial valuation.

UK - Mercer Investment Consulting has lost a consulting brief with cosmetics company L'Oreal on the back of a tender which saw the £120m mandate awarded to Buck Consultants.

UK - Pension funds should nominate one person to oversee trustee implementation of the new code of practice, says the Pensions Management Institute (PMI).

UK - Mercer Investment Consulting has appointed Fred Berry as a senior investment consultant based in London.

UK - Glasgow-based Britannic Asset Management expects its assets under management to double, reaching more than £30bn, if the proposed merger of parent company Britannic Group and Resolution Life Group is approved by shareholders today.

UK - Global energy company E.ON has appointed Hewitt Associates to provide investment consultancy services to its pension scheme trustees on the back of the merging of four Electricity Supply Pension Scheme groups to form a £4bn fund.

UK - The UK should consider a savings scheme along the lines of New Zealand's new voluntary savings scheme as part of the solution to the looming pensions crisis, says the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI).

UK - Pension trustees and employers could leave themselves critically exposed financially if they do not address a trend by life companies to cap their total exposure to death-in-service benefits.