Europe

UK - Senior correspondent Giovanni Legorano speaks to Steve Delo former chairman of the Pensions Management Institute/Independent Trustee, PAN Governance and Michael Chatterton, head of settlement solutions at Watson Wyatt.

EUROPE - European fund managers broke with global trends and switched into defensive stocks in recent weeks, according to Bank of America's (BofA) latest fund manager survey.

FRANCE - The Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR) has hired six firms to run a combined €4bn (US$5.9bn) in inflation-linked bond mandates.

UK - Trustees and sponsor companies should look at the company's defined benefit scheme as if it were a subsidiary of the sponsor company, Watson Wyatt head of settlement solutions Michael Chatterton said.

UK - The CDC Pensions Scheme has completed a £370m (US$621.6m) buy-in with Rothesay Life.

EUROPE - Pension deficits in UK banks and Europe's largest listed companies have been underestimated by €300bn (US$449.1bn) in their last full year reports, AlphaValue research revealed.

UK - Hermes Fund Managers has hired a six strong global equities team from Fortis.

UK/Spain - A merger deal between British Airways and Iberia, the Spanish airline, could be terminated should BA be unable to reach a funding arrangement with its scheme trustees.

US - Mercer parent company Marsh & McLennan agreed to a US$400m settlement in a class action suit brought against the firm by Ohio and New Jersey pension funds.

EUROPE - The revised text of the European Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) outlining limitations on ways hedge funds and private equity managers are paid has been released.