TRUSTEES of UK charity pension funds should undertake an urgent governance review to ensure the long-term health of schemes, a Charity Finance Directors' Group report warns.

Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management has launched three 130/30 strategies for institutional investors.

GLOBAL - Pension schemes could soon rate emerging market fund managers on their attitude to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues through work by Mercer and the International Finance Group (IFC).

US - Schott Group Investment Consulting has joined CapTrust to create Florida's largest private investment consulting firm.

UK - A two day strike at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland has gone ahead after discussions between petrochemical company INEOS and trade union Unite broke down last week.

THE government went out to consultation on proposals to extend The Pension Regulator's powers on Friday.

UK - The Pensions Regulator (TPR) sought to reassure companies it would only retrospectively use its new powers in certain situations and would try to avoid hampering market activity or innovation.

UK - Balanced pooled funds produced their first negative quarterly return since Q2 2006 with the three months to the end of March 2008 making a median -7.9%, according to BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.

The Merseyside Pension Fund in the UK has revamped its asset allocation in order to help it recover from its £1bn deficit (US$1.98bn).

THE £2bn Avon Pension Fund has launched a system to allow scheme members to view their pension details online.