United Kingdom

UK - Northumberland County Council Pension Fund has appointed Northern Trust to provide it with transition management services.

UK - Recent market turmoil could force companies to pay significantly higher contributions or increase the length of deficit repayment periods, Towers Watson warns.

UK/NETHERLANDS - Aegon today confirmed the sale of its UK-based life and pensions business Guardian to European private equity group Cinven, for a total cash consideration of £275m ($450m).

UK/EUROPE - The European Commission has failed to make its case for a revised IORP directive and planned changes should be abandoned, the National Association of Pension Funds says.

UK - Scheme risk transfer deals totalling £1.4bn ($2.3bn) were completed last quarter with five providers concluding business in excess of £150m, Hymans Robertson analysis finds.

UK - The £240bn ($390bn) liability-driven investment market is developing into an "oligopoly" with just three providers managing more than 80% of assets, research finds.

UK - An independent model of the Pension Protection Fund 7800 index shows the collective scheme deficit has plummeted £80bn over the past two weeks - equivalent to about £8bn ($13bn) every day.

UK - Standard life increased its corporate business assets under management by 7% to £39.3bn ($63.6bn) in the first six months of the year.

UK - Aggregate deficits of schemes monitored by the Pension Protection Fund worsened last month, increasing to £67.3bn ($109bn) from £8.3bn at the end of June.

EUROPE - Pension funds are facing a "double whammy" as their reaction to falling asset values exacerbates a rise in liabilities, warns a fiduciary manager.