Investment

Xafinity has been bought by Advent International from Duke Street for an undisclosed sum.

GLOBAL - Worldwide investment fund assets increased 6.2% in the third quarter of 2009, reaching €15.3trn (US$21.5trn) at the end of September 2009, latest figures from the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) have revealed.

ITALY - Italian pensions watchdog Commissione di Vigilanza sui Fondi Pensione (Covip) has called for a "modernisation" of the rules regulating the investments pension funds are allowed to make.

GLOBAL - BlackRock's net new business totalled US$82bn in the fourth quarter of 2009, with pension funds and other institutional investors accounting for 60% of it.

The Pensions Advisory Service is in danger of being "dumped or carved up" as a result of government funding problems, Richard Stroud warns.

People retiring at 65 will need to live a minimum of 17 years to get back the money have saved in their pension fund due to today's low annuity rates, Rockingham Retirement says.

GLOBAL - Nissan Motors has appointed Mercer as global retirement consultant in a bid to strengthen its pensions governance structures.

Retirement savers should consider taking their tax-free lump sum now to avoid possible new tax charges after the general election, BDO Investment Management says.

CANADA - Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec will focus on generating returns in line with its liabilities and simplify the schemes investments as it tries to recover from the financial crisis, its chief executive said.

Strong equity performance spurred a median 20.5% return for pooled balanced funds during 2009, latest BNY Mellon Asset Servicing CAPS figures reveal.