Europe

UK - Punter Southall has been appointed as actuaries and consultants to the pension fund of Comet Group.

UK - Schemes' average allocation to equities has dropped by four percentage points since last year, research from Mercer Investment Consulting shows.

UK - The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority has published new guidance for "voluntary whistleblowers" on when to report breaches of trust law.

UK - European Commission age discrimination measures could leave schemes open to claims - despite government assurances to the contrary.

UK - Trustees will be able to gain a master's degree in their profession under a new initiative being introduced by the National Association of Pension Funds.

UK - The Railways Pension Trustee Company (Railpen) has appointed Chris Hitchen as chief executive following the retirement of Peter Murray.

UK - Schemes will have to be nimble to meet the raft of changes which are likely to take effect next year, delegates at the recent NAPF Conference heard.

UK - Schemes will be forced to adopt mandatory governance legislation if voluntary guidelines are not followed, delegates at the recent NAPF Conference were told.

UK - The £2.4bn Lancashire County Pension Fund has put out to tender £960m of its assets in a move from balanced to specialist investment management.

UK - Government changes to the Pensions Bill will force companies into insolvency and place a greater burden on the Pensions Protection Fund, lawyers warn.