Europe

UK - Friends Ivory & Sime (FIS) has gone live on the DST International (DSTi) HiPerformance solution.

UK - Compulsory membership of occupational schemes will drive up costs to members in the long-term, a Watson Wyatt consultant warns.

UK - Pension rights for fixed-term workers which come into force this year will turn out to be a "damp squib", says Norton Rose.

UK - Investment consultancy PSolve, part of South Africa's Sanlam Financial Services, has marked its first year with £8.4bn assets under advice.

EUROPE - A lack of coordination among the European investment industry is seriously harming investor choice, according to a new study.

UK - Buck Consultants is running a nationwide series of courses aimed at improving trustees practical knowledge over the next few months.

UK - A £1bn share buy-back scheme by Diageo will benefit shareholders by returning them cash and by boosting the value of the company's remaining shares, says a leading consultant.

UK - Government guidelines on bringing fixed-term workers' pension rights into line with permanent staff have been attacked by lawyers for being too woolly.

UK - Pension funds should consider increasing their equity allocations to take advantage of rising yields, Watson Wyatt claims.

UK - Friends, Ivory & Sime's private equity unit ISIS Capital has sold its 20% stake in bonmarche, the womenswear retailer, for about £18m.