Investment

The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has postponed today's vote on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers directive to May 17, in order to give "more consideration to the opinion of the Legal Affairs Committee".

FRANCE - The Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR) gained 2.6% during the first quarter, according to estimated and unaudited data supplied by the fund.

US - BlackRock Inc. and the largest US business lobby groups are fighting to strike a provision in the regulatory-overhaul legislation that they say could harm millions of investors in retirement plans and pension funds.

Update 11.52am: The FTSE 100 has soared more than 250 points, or almost 5%, in morning trading as the markets took confidence from this weekend's €750bn rescue deal to defend the euro.

NORWAY - Radical changes to laws governing defined benefit plans in Norway will be needed to adapt the schemes to the new old-age state pension, a commission tasked with examining the future of pensions in the country's private sector has concluded.

Gilts and sterling are falling sharply this morning as investors react to the likelihood of a UK hung parliament.

UK - Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has combined its global developed and global emerging markets desks after six investment directors quit the firm for rival investment manager Martin Currie.

Pension schemes currently have significant numbers of opportunities across global real estate markets, Invesco Real Estate says.

Standard Life has branded the Investment Governance Group's principles on improving defined contribution governance as "elitist".

GLOBAL - Nearly 18% of our respondents said they have tried recently to move their passive assets away from market-cap weighted indices.