UK - Sharmila Soosaipillai has taken up the role of operational risk manager at fund of hedge funds Optimal Investment Services, owned by Santander Asset Management.

UK - The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) reported deficits of £343m (€512m) and also accepted 98 pension schemes in its first full year of operation.

FOUR-FIFTHS of UK pension funds plan to "significantly" alter their asset mixes over the next three years, latest research from Greenwich Associates shows.

REGULATION of the self-invested personal pension marketplace is likely to hit smaller providers hard, says Jardine Lloyd Thompson.

UK - Will Aitken has joined Watson Wyatt as a senior consultant in its defined contribution (DC) pension business, having spent the last 10 years at Aon.

US - The largest pension fund in the US and consulting giant Mercer have disputed a claim made by US senator Chuck Grassley that pension fund losses incurred through hedge fund investments could threaten American workers' retirement security.

NETHERLANDS - Dolf Hoeks has left Mellon Analytical Solutions to head up Hewitt Associates' international benefits consulting practice in the Netherlands.

US - The board of the US$153.2bn California Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) has voted to restrict political contributions and gifts as part of a dramatic overhaul of its board governance policy.

SOUTH AMERICA - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for reforms across all Latin America as contributions are "often inadequate".

UK - Barclays has offered up all of the held shares in BlueBay Asset Mangement while Lehman Brothers has acquired 4.99% of the shares offered in the managers' IPO.