United Kingdom

UK - The £1bn P&O Pension Scheme has appointed Muzinich to manage a £50m global high yield bond portfolio.

UK - Royal London Private Equity has completed the initial closing on its first limited partnership fund with a value of over £64m.

UK - Investec Asset Management has further strengthened its UK institutional business development team with the appointment of Craig Hurt.

UK - Tax simplification will come at a cost to schemes and administrators, Gissings Advisory Services warns.

UK/EU - Watson Wyatt has launched the 2003 editions of its employee benefits and employment terms documents.

UK - Public service scheme members are leaving their jobs because they are too ill to work but are unable to claim their pension, Unison claims.

UK - Larger pension funds are poised to move up to a 10th of their portfolios into private equity, the British Venture Capital Association claims.

UK - Some companies will be forced to wind up their pension scheme as an alternative to suspending dividends, former Labour minister Frank Field warns.

UK - Fund manager Close Brothers will be hosting a series of seminars for investment advisers looking at three specialist investment products.

UK - The pensions ombudsman is urging the government to begin industry simplicity by making wholesale changes to the way his office operates.