United Kingdom

GLOBAL - PIMCO has hired five new investment staffers in London, New York and Singapore to round out its emerging markets equities team, with two joining from Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM).

UK - Defined benefit schemes plunged £80bn ($125bn) further into deficit in September leaving more than 80% now with a funding void, according to the Pension Protection Fund.

UK - Members of Lloyds TSB Pension Funds are demanding to know whether the £4bn ($6.25bn) partnership created to plug the schemes' deficits was used to offload "toxic assets".

KPMG snags Mercer partner, Mercer poaches from NEST, BlackRock, BlueBay, ICI, Impax, Man Group, Aviva, Barings

UK - Shareholder activism has been trivialised and dismissed by policymakers, delegates at a responsible investment conference heard yesterday.

NETHERLANDS/UK - PGGM is in advanced negotiations with Barclays Capital to acquire its majority stake in University Partnerships Programme, the UK's largest developer of university campuses, according to reports.

UK - The lastest round of quantitative easing has made gilts even more expensive and threatens to hasten the exit of international bond investors eager to crystallise profits,fund managers warn.

GLOBAL - Have you missed the biggest stories in pensions this week? Find out below, as we list the top 10 most popular stories on www.globalpensions.com over the past seven days.

UK - Pension funds are calling for an urgent meeting with The Pensions Regulator to discuss ways of protecting UK pension schemes from the negative effects of quantitative easing.

UK/US - Local authority pension funds have called for News Corporation to overhaul its board structure in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.