With 2011 likely to be a big year for M&A, as companies deploy their cash hoards on acquiring new businesses, it's certainly thoughtful of UK pensions minister Steve Webb to be doing his best to help.

Mergers and acquisitions, and the hurdles that companies' pensions bills can place in the way of such deal-making, was one of the topics raised at the National Association of Pension Funds' annual trustee conference yesterday morning.