The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Pension Fund is to place a quarter of its £4.5bn fund in active UK equities with Majedie Asset Management.

For as long as most of us can remember, Gordon Brown has been identified as the most influential and powerful person in pensions. Rather like the shocking moment in Sleeping Beauty when the wicked queen goes to her talking mirror and finds out that she is no longer the fairest of them all, I suspect he has fallen off the number one spot.

Rising mortgage costs are predicted to force many employees to lower their pension contributions over the next six months.

There has been an approximate 400,000 fall in active members of private sector pension schemes over the last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The number of schemes seeking compensation against Scottish Widows for alleged mis-selling of funds has grown to over 20, following publicity for the original claim.

Nearly half of pension scheme managers have undertaken an investment shift from equities to bonds during the past 12 months, according to research by Aon Consulting.

The government’s proposal to prevent transferring in or out of personal accounts (PAs) will leave savers in a pensions “twilight zone”, according to advisers.

The 100 schemes currently considering a buyout have avoided the worst of recent market falls, according to Paternoster’s Mark Wood.

Guidance for trustees on how best to wind up pension funds within two years has been published by the Pensions Regulator.

The Merseyside Pension Fund has pledged to do more to inform its members of its active engagement on ethical investing.

A co-habiting partner has won a Pensions Ombudsman determination in a dispute with her deceased partner’s parents over a death-in-service pension.

Two employees had to wait five years to receive their pensions until the Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) intervened, according to its annual review.

British Steel and Western Power pension funds were found to be victims of fraud in a recent court case in Wales.

Sainsbury’s has vehemently denied rumours suggesting it was considering selling its defined benefit (DB) pension scheme to a specialist insurer.

UK pension funds are way behind their European counterparts when it comes to investing in alternative investments, City ‘superwoman’ Nicola Horlick has claimed.

A group of UK pension funds have placed significant investments in a hybrid property/private equity fund that is targeting returns of 20% a year.

Three diversified fixed income funds that can reduce the impact of UK interest rate changes on pension schemes have been launched by Henderson Global Investors.

Analysis: The white labelling of funds is designed to offer DC scheme members clarity and simplicity of choice without the confusion resulting from named fund managers, says David Rowley

The Pensions Bill debate in the House of Lords last week picked over the oh so thorny issue of how auto-enrolled pension savings can be eroded in value, or even rendered completely valueless, through interaction with our system of means-tested support for the elderly.

Companies registered in London fare better than those based elsewhere, which can only serve to exacerbate the north/south divide

The past year has been evidence of how quickly and plentifully the challenges facing scheme trustees can arise, but there are many solutions to manage these risks

Its board’s disregard of the combined code will not just have consequencs for M&S, argues Tom Powdrill

It’s a case of lights, curtains, action for BlackRock’s director of DC sales this fortnight, as Emma Douglas invites us into her thespian extracurricular world.

In the previous article, we covered the basics of third-party pensions administration. But what happens when you’ve made the decision to outsource? There are a number of key issues to consider.

JOHN FITZPATRICK - Partner, Pension Corporation

PETER ELWIN - Head of accounting and valuation research, Cazenove

STEPHEN RICHARDS - Independent consultant, Richards Consulting

DAVID BLAKE - Director, Pensions Institute

KEVIN MCLAUGHLIN - Principal, Mercer

GORDON WOO - Catastrophist

Jagdeep Singh Bains (pic) is joining Watson Wyatt’s London office as a senior investment consultant.