United Kingdom

UK - The Inland Revenue has released figures which prove tax relief for all UK pension schemes has been overstated by about £3bn a year since 1999.

UK - US-based fixed-income asset management company PIMCO has created a new marketing and communications position at its London office with the aim of enhancing the firm's UK pension focus.

UK - The £28bn BT Pension Scheme is lobbying the government to increase the risk-based element of the Pension Protection Fund levy to at least 80%.

UK - Work and pensions secretary Alan Johnson has his ‘head in the sand' by refusing to lift the retirement age, industry leaders warn.

UK - Accounting giant KPMG is to appeal against the High Court's ruling that its Pre-2000 Pension Fund is a defined benefit scheme.

UK - Aegon Asset Management has appointed Jon Bennett as head of its institutional business following the departure of Mike Craston.

UK - Underfunded schemes in wind-up will have to pay for a government information gathering exercise that determines their eligibility for compensation.

UK - Finance directors have taken control of the defined contribution (DC) pension purse strings and many impose limits on the number of employees that join to cut company costs, new research by the Pensions Institute has revealed.

UK - Work and pensions secretary Alan Johnson is ignoring employer concerns and taking a ‘pro-union' stance on pensions, the Confederation of British Industry claims.

UK - State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the investment management arm of State Street Corporation and the largest institutional fund manager in the world, has won a £75m (e109m) passive equity mandate from Liontrust Asset Management.