United Kingdom

UK - Employees should be given time off every year to attend financial and retirement planning seminars, Prudential UK urges.

UK - OPRA is planning a major crackdown on employers who fail to offer staff access to a stakeholder pension scheme.

UK - Fund managers have been urged to rebuild investor confidence rather than wait for an equity market rally to solve their problems.

UK - Scottish Pension Trustees has appointed Julia Miller associate director.

UK - Trustees risk being made scapegoats for the pensions crisis and the government's failure to address member security, experts warn.

UK - Marks & Spencer has conceded that its DB scheme, which is closed to new members, will require increased funding.

UK - Merrill Lynch Investment Managers has won a £70m specialist UK equity mandate from mobile phone giant mmO2's pension scheme.

UK - Corporate governance advisers PIRC is targeting the remuneration package for new HSBC board-appointee William Aldinger.

UK - The government is ignoring evidence about the effects of the Inland Revenue's proposed £1.4m lifetime pensions limit because the truth is politically unacceptable, experts claim.

UK - Watson Wyatt is urging schemes to adopt 10-year mandates, in order to lower trading costs and boost returns.