United Kingdom

UK - Pension funds would suffer from liabilities increasing further if the Bank of England buys gilts in another round of quantitative easing, Pension Corporation says.

UK - The £1.5bn ($2.3bn) Dorset County Pension Fund has appointed JLT Investment Consulting to help it select a new bond manager.

UK - Transition managers are more often being asked to help position portfolios to make them attractive for suitors on the other side of a buyout transaction, delegates at the Global Pensions Transition Management Forum heard.

UK - The onus of conducting due diligence on transition managers has shifted greatly to the asset owner, yet gaining access to managers' track records remains a problem, delegates at this month's GP's Transition Management Forum heard.

UK/US - Cairn Capital is to launch a Subordinated Financials fund with £39m ($60m) seed capital from the Stanhope Pension Trust and San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association.

UK - Advisers have welcomed plans to introduce a compulsory code of practice for insurers which is designed to encourage consumers to shop around for an appropriate annuity when they approach retirement.

UK - Schemes with liability- driven investment strategies could shave one-third off their Pension Protection Fund levy payments by doing a "bespoke" analysis of investment risk, LCP says.

UK/EUROPE - SECOR Asset Management, the fiduciary and asset manager run by the former General Motors Asset Management investment chief, has opened in London.

UK - Liability-driven investment is "fundamentally misconceived" because it hedges low interest rates which in fact increase corporate profitability, a radical report finds.

UK - Pension funds are facing a dilemma in that de-risking is expensive and not getting cheaper. Instead, they should take on more risk in the current climate, delegates at this year's Professional Pensions Show heard.