United Kingdom

UK - Vodafone and airline BMI have become the latest big name firms to announce plans to close their defined benefit schemes to future accrual.

GLOBAL - Pension industry experts predict the fiduciary management model will spread deeper into Europe and other parts of the world, and expand its reach beyond DB plans to the likes of insurance companies and DC plans.

UK - Institutional investors will have to sign up to a stewardship code as part of Sir David Walker's reforms on bank pay and governance as shareholders.

UK - Low governance levels among companies could lead to the next financial crisis, Treasury financial services secretary Paul Myners says.

UK - Telent - the former Marconi telecoms group owned by Pension Corporation - has agreed a 15-year funding plan with trustees in a bid to shore up its pension scheme.

UK - Three quarters of defined benefit pension plans are now more likely to halt future accrual than they were 12 months ago, the Hewitt Global Pension Risk Survey 2009 revealed.

UK - Companies and their investors are failing to take changes in weather patterns properly into account in their investment decisions, latest research revealed.

EUROPE - Schemes still favour equities despite market volatility, a J.P. Morgan Asset Management survey revealed.

UK - BlackRock Investment Management will transfer two real estate funds of funds worth £54.8m (US$90.4m) and €62.6m (US$93m) to Aviva Investors Global Services after the fund manager left the firm for Aviva.

US - Five Ohio pension funds have filed a lawsuit against the three ratings agencies for allegedly providing strong ratings to mortgage backed securities in exchange for kickbacks from the issuing firms.