Europe

UK - Private equity house Gresham has promoted Andy Tupholme to the position of investment director.

UK - Unions have lambasted Cable & Wireless over reports that pension contributions for its two new directors will be "five times" the standard company rate.

UK - A trade union has attacked the FSA over plans to give staff in its money purchase scheme bigger pay rises than its final salary workers.

UK - Final salary scheme closures are continuing at record levels, latest OPRA figures reveal.

EUROPE - Northern Trust Global Investments has bagged a third party securities lending mandate from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

UK - Pension funds are being urged to abstain from approving Reuters remuneration reports.

UK - An international think-tank has criticised FRS17 and warns that full implementation will aggravate the funding gap.

UK - Chancellor Gordon Brown shaved UK growth hopes during his 2003 Budget, with commentators warning that future growth projections are too heavily dependent on an upsurge in the world economy.

UK/EUROPE - Unsurprisingly, for the third straight year in a row, fixed income securities proved to be a better investment than shares, according to the Barclays Equity Gilt Study.

EUROPE - Investment bank Bear Stearns is backing a new hedge fund seeding vehicle unveiled by Liberty Ermitage.