United Kingdom

UK - London Pension Funds Authority has reappointed JPMorgan Investor Services as global custodian for its £2.8bn portfolio for a further three years.

UK - Mercer Human Resource Consulting is to hold a series of seminars on employee benefits between May and July.

UK - Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has launched a European corporate bond fund aimed at pension funds and other institutional investors.

UK - Trustees will have to carry out regular audits of their practices to determine their effectiveness, Paul Myners (pictured) says.

UK - A series of roadshows to help independent financial advisers develop their business is being run by Scottish Widows.

UK - Pension funds are demanding that a loophole in Security and Exchange Commission regulations that permits some investment managers and third parties to obscure their potential conflicts of interest to the detriment of pension funds be closed.

UK - Flexible retirement plans to be introduced in 2006 will create a win-win situation for employers and staff, Mercer Human Resource Consulting claims.

UK - Employer contributions by the Progressive Building Society are rising to nearly a quarter of pensionable pay to plug a £1.7m deficit in its pension fund.

UK - Benefits must be slashed and retirement ages increased if occupational schemes are to survive, incoming Association of Consulting Actuaries chairman Adrian Waddingham claims.

UK - The implications of new pension legislation for scheme trustees will be the subject of a series of UK seminars held throughout the year.