Pensions schemes favouring buy-outs; FTSE 100 pension buy-out expected; Friends Provident rebuffs Flowers £3.5bn bid; Northern Rock boss to get £760,000 payoff

UK - Pension funds' holdings in global equities plummeted for the eighth consecutive year in 2007, from 62.7% to 55.1%, according to BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.

AUSTRALIA - Superannuation fund associations have demanded clarity in company policies over market transparency and disclosure.

ITALY - Private bank Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) has invested in Aletti Gestielle Alternative (AGA), a fund of hedge funds provider in Italy with €3.6bn (US$5.7bn) in assets under management.

US - The development of a "terror-free" index will allow pension funds to measure the financial impacts of state legislation limiting investments in companies linked to countries such as Sudan.

The Pension Protection Fund has confirmed changes to the valuation assumptions used for pension scheme valuations under section 143 and section 179 of the Pensions Act 2004.

THE government has published a second set of draft Financial Assistance Scheme regulations.

US - Defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors in the US lack vital knowledge about fees, according to a survey by Chatham Partners.

US - Texan senators have failed to reach conclusion after lengthy discussions over whether politicians should have a say in the investment policy of state pension funds.

UK - Changes to the valuation assumptions used for pension scheme valuations under section 143 and section 179 of the Pensions Act 2004 have been confirmed by the Pension Protection Fund.