United Kingdom

UK - Northern Trust has appointed Ray Bloom as senior vice president, head of UK corporate pension funds within its asset servicing business in London.

UK - The £1.5bn Leicestershire County Council pension fund has tendered for an active currency manager to cover a currency overlay mandate worth £525m.

UK - Henderson Global Investors has expanded its institutional management team with the appointment of Cecilia Moynihan as director of institutional business.

UK - Neil Smith and Nick Evans, both senior investment consultants at Hewitt, are joining KPMG investment consulting in senior roles.

UK - Pensions decisions should be taken out of the hands of politicians with an independent committee delegated the task of setting an appropriate retirement age, says Stephen Yeo, partner of Watson Wyatt.

UK - Alfred McAlpine pension plan has awarded SEI Investments Europe a £45.6m global developed markets equity mandate following a review of its investment strategy.

UK - Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) has hired Robert Thomas as a credit analyst in fixed income, covering financial institutions.

UK - Schroders has appointed Gary Clarke of Gartmore as a fund manager within its European equities team.

UK - Continually low take up of defined contribution schemes despite increased education efforts by employers is putting the provision of occupational pensions at risk, warns Hewitt Associates.

UK - The Trades Union Congress (TUC) Superannuation Society, the pension fund for employees of the Trades Union Congress, has added extra financial issues as selection criteria in its next fund management review.