United Kingdom

UK - The top 100 UK firms' defined benefit schemes knocked £42bn off their combined deficit over the last year, Pension Capital Strategies research shows.

UK/NETHERLANDS - The number of pension plans adopting liability driven investing strategies has remained robust over the past year, with schemes in the UK and Netherlands leading the way, SEI says.

UK - The number of investment consultancy tenders by defined benefit schemes fell in the first half of 2010, research shows.

UK - Transfers from contracted out defined benefit schemes to non-contracted out schemes will be permitted following a government rethink.

UK - Nearly three-quarters of corporate executives running DB schemes say they will look to cut investment risk over the next five years, research finds.

UK - Russell Investments has given its transition management data from the last five years to the Inalytics Transition Implementation Performance Standards database.

UK - Pension funds could be ditching responsible investing principles in their relentless hunt to get higher returns from their asset managers, Kas Bank warns.

UK/US/CANADA - The Pensions Regulator is expected to argue in the High Court today that a liability that flows from a financial support direction should be treated as an administration expense.

UK - The National Employment Savings Trust has reduced the upfront charge on contributions going into the scheme from 2% to 1.8%.

UK - Increased life expectancy published by the Continuous Mortality Investigation will add an extra £5bn ($7.8bn) onto UK pensions and spark a wave of longevity trades, Aon Hewitt says.