Bass's £1.8bn (€2.9bn) pension scheme is set to halve its holding of UK equities to 25% of the fund and invest more in pan-European shares.

It will be the first large UK pension scheme to follow the new equity allocation route promoted by actuary and consultant William M Mercer. The change, allocating an extra 14% of the fund to pan-European equities and the other 10% to fixed-income securities, will take place over the next two to three years.