United Kingdom

UK - David Norgrove, chairman of the new Pensions Regulator, has urged employers to co-operate fully with trustees in sharing all relevant information to reduce pension scheme deficits.

UK - Fund managers in the managed funds sector are raising cash - in some cases up to 20% - reflecting their caution on bonds and to some extent equities, according to Standard & Poor's.

UK - More than 60% of FTSE 350 companies are yet to form a preliminary view on the pension plan design implications of new legislative changes with most watching the market and competitors to see what their best options are, says Watson Wyatt.

UK - Mercer Human Resource Consulting says a lack of detail in the government's proposals to replace the minimum funding requirement and emphasis on "process over substance" leaves them open to wide interpretation.

UK - Trustees need to pay more attention to defined contribution pension arrangements, Stephen Yeo, partner of Watson Wyatt, told the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) in Manchester today.

UK - Deutsche Asset Management is set to lose a £320m mandate with Dumfries and Galloway pension scheme as the fund moves away from its single balanced manager approach.

UK - International project management and services company AMEC has appointed State Street as global custodian for its UK pension schemes covering £950m in assets.

UK - Grampian Foods has agreed to extend its consultation with trade unions on proposed changes to the company pension scheme.

UK - While the sum of extra contributions made by companies to their pension schemes last year to reduce deficits was significant, the contributions were made by just 25% of companies, new research by Mercer Human Resource Consulting has found.

UK - Failure by the government to reconcile its dual objectives of making final salary pensions attractive for both employers and employees in framing the Code of Practice on scheme funding has resulted in ambiguous guidance for sponsors, says Hewitt....