United Kingdom

UK - Threadneedle is expecting some "heated discussions" during its second annual conference this month.

UK - Gartmore Investment Man-agement is to reopen its European equity directional hedge fund, AlphaGen Velas, due to demand from schemes and other institutional investors.

UK - Life and pension providers will be able to cut inbound telephone calls by an average of 40% by the end of 2005, new research suggests.

UK - NAPF CONFERENCE - Some of the 'failed' pension practices and beliefs need to be discarded even if they have no replacement at the present time, Aon's head of benefit practice Donald Duval told delegates at the annual NAPF Conference.

UK - Nearly a third of British workers have no idea how much their employers contribute to their pension schemes, research from Chase De Vere Employee Benefits reveals.

UK - Aon has attacked the Treasury after an official suggested members of the collapsed Albert Fisher Group Pension Fund should seek redress from the consultant.

UK - Mayflower Group workers could lose more than 80% of their pension savings when a buyer for the beleaguered firm is revealed next week.

UK - Treasury talks on the Myners principles have been labelled "pointless" after consultant John Ralfe used them to urge schemes to follow Boots' switch to bonds.

UK - Chief executives and general managers in the UK are among the highest paid in Europe, a report by Watson Wyatt reveals.

UK - The government today announced a £400m compensation package for workers who lost their pensions when their companies went into liquidation.