United Kingdom

UK - Manufacturing firm The Brickbusiness has pledged to increase contributions into its DC scheme after staff threatened to strike.

UK - Investment manager Martin Currie has signed a £500,000 outsourcing contract for applications support with IT services company, ZEDA.

UK - Alternative investments and the benefits of socially responsible borrowing will be addressed at the Ethical Investment Association winter training meeting.

UK - The NAPF is urging schemes to help it clamp down on any breaches of corporate governance procedures.

UK - Conservative peer Lord Higgins has criticised the Treasury for trying to prevent "all the facts coming to light" over the inquiry into Equitable Life.

UK - Schemes are being urged to hold fund managers to account over the millions of shareholder votes that "go missing" every year.

UK - Schroder Property Investment Management and Deutsche Property Asset Management have teamed up to buy supermarket J. Sainsbury's property arm for £170m.

UK - Employers are abandoning defined benefit schemes because staff do not see a link between their pension and salary levels, new research shows.

UK - Industry experts hit back at pensions minister Malcolm Wicks after he blamed fund managers for exacerbating the pensions crisis.

UK - Financial services group Alexander Forbes has seen profits from international operations dip 2% for the six months ending September 30.