Europe

FINLAND - Jaakko Niemelä, managing director of Mandatum Stockbrokers, is to quit the company this summer to set up his own firm specialising in value definition.

UK - Gartmore has strengthened its global fixed income team with the appointments of Varkki Chacko and Mark Wauton.

UK - The Private Health Partnership has launched a service to provide immediate help and pensions advice for people suffering a chronic health condition or disability.

UK - Small business bosses are planning to use their firms as a pension when they retire, Abbey National Business claims.

UK - Schemes are being urged to bypass enhanced equity strategies and use hedge funds on their index portfolios to generate positive returns instead.

LUXEMBOURG - BNP Securities Services and Franklin Templeton have become customers of Clearstream's investment fund processing solution Vestima, which has over 10,000 funds available on the service and covers most of the Luxembourg market.

PORTUGAL - Portuguese pension funds produced a positive return (+2.1%) in the final quarter of 2002 and indeed the best quarter during 2002, according to Watson Wyatt.

US/UK - A cross-section of US institutional investors, state treasurers and labour unions have called on Tyco International to set a specific timetable for the company to make a decision on returning the company from Bermuda to US soil.

UK - The minimum income guarantee has significantly reduced pensioner poverty, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

UK - The Pensions Research Accountants Group has updated its guidelines for trustees and scheme sponsors dealing with data protection issues.