United Kingdom

UK - Schemes are "reluctantly" prepared to accept the £1.4m lifetime savings cap as the price the industry has to pay for pension simplification.

UK - Northern Trust's European manager-of-managers business has won over 18 new pension fund clients with mandates worth in total more than £400m since January 2003.

UK - Gartmore Investment Management has launched a currency hedge fund aimed at institutional clients - the latest in a programme of expansion in the asset class.

UK - ISIS saw pre-tax profits before tax, goodwill amortisation and exceptional items rise 14.8% from £21.6m to £24.8m for 2003.

UK - The £19bn Universities Superannuation Scheme has dropped Schroders, Baillie Gifford and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers from its roster, following a review of its investment strategy.

UK - The market for liability mandates is going to be worth tens of billions of pounds within the next few years, fund managers predict.

UK - Trade union giant GMB is urging the government to introduce compulsory employer and employee contributions in the Pensions Bill.

UK - Standard Life Investments has won first place in the Ten Year UK Individual Pension Property Sector for the third consecutive year at Standard & Poor's Fund Awards 2004.

UK - Barclays Global Investors - which has begun offering ALM services to pension funds - took $100bn net new business in 2003, compared with $80bn in 2002.

UK - Chemicals giant Croda is to nearly treble its contributions into its defined benefit scheme in a bid to slash its £35m deficit.