United Kingdom

UK - Pension funds gambled on faster economic growth in the second quarter and posted their best returns since 1999, latest Russell/Mellon CAPS figures show.

UK - Scheme funding problems were a major factor behind the government's decision to pump an extra £800m into the education sector.

UK - Employee benefits specialist Gissings is moving its third-party administration business out of London but denies the move has been driven by cash constraints.

UK - Unconstrained mandates would enable fund managers to build better-performing portfolios for pension schemes, Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow claims.

UK - Paul Chapman has been appointed senior vice president and head of global fund services relationship management at Northern Trust.

UK - Occupational pension provision is "patchy" and the government should increase basic state benefits, a left-wing think-tank claims.

UK - Isis Asset Management's stewardship income fund was one of only two UK equity funds to post a positive return in the year to the end of June.

UK - Doctors' pensions will jump by at least 20% over the next three years following changes to their National Health Service contracts.

UK - PIRC research director Stuart Bell has resigned from the corporate governance adviser after 14 years.

UK - All small to medium-sized firms will axe their final salary schemes because deficits will limit their ability to raise capital, KPMG predicts.