Fixed Income

GLOBAL - The number of schemes awarding managers bond mandates increased by over 50% in 2009, Towers Watson said.

US/UK - PIMCO is reducing its holdings of UK and US government bonds because of fears over increased borrowing and the withdrawal of quantitative easing programmes.

PIMCO is reducing its holdings of UK and US government bonds because of fears over increased borrowing and the withdrawal of quantitative easing programmes.

UK - Overall investment manager search activity increased in the UK during the first nine months of the year in a sign activity is returning to pre-credit crunch levels, Mercer said.

Planned gilt sales are set to rise by £5.2bn to £225.1bn during the 2009-10 financial year, the Debt Management Office says.

UK - The National Association of Pension Funds has called on the government to skew gilt issuance towards long-dated and index-linked gilts.

The National Association of Pension Funds has called on the government to skew gilt issuance towards long-dated and index-linked gilts.

UK - The majority of pension funds want to see the government issue more long-dated and index-linked gilts, the National Association of Pensions Funds' Annual Survey showed.

EUROPE - Schemes still favour equities despite market volatility, a J.P. Morgan Asset Management survey revealed.

The Bank of England would like to see more uptake of index linked gilts by institutional investors, but appetite for the paper does not seem to be there.