United Kingdom

UK - Beleaguered insurer Equitable Life wants the government to reopen the parliamentary ombudsman's inquiry into regulatory failures at the time of the mutual's near-collapse.

UK - The £283.8m Audit Commission Pension Scheme has re-appointed Aon Consulting as its investment consultant.

UK - Construction group Carillion's profits have been hit by increased pension costs.

UK - Consulting actuary CheckleyFisher has launched a new software application developed to assess the impact on individuals of the proposed taxation changes.

UK - Winterthur Life has scooped seven prizes at the Standard & Poor's Fund Awards 2004.

UK - Heath Lambert Consulting has signed a distribution deal with SEI Investments to become its preferred manager-of-managers provider.

UK - The £2.2bn Tyne & Wear Pension Fund has joined the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, taking its total membership to 31 schemes.

UK - The GMB union has attacked proposals by the Pensions Policy Institute to introduce a minimum weekly pension of £105.

UK - Pensions provider Friends Provident will confirm Jardine Lloyd Thompson as administrator to its portfolio of defined benefit schemes in early May.

UK - Norwich Union is introducing a new special offer on its trustee investment product used for income drawdown.