Europe

UK - Royal & SunAlliance has set aside £1.2bn to cover guaranteed annuity option liabilities, but a leading analyst warns there is more pain to come.

NORWAY - Nordea Private Equity - a unit of Nordea Investment Management - has finally closed its Thematic Fund of Funds I K/S with commitments of EUR208m.

UK - Owner-managed businesses are a key area for new SIPPs and other benefit packages, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Financial Solutions claims.

UK - The asset management industry will undergo massive changes in the next five years, former Bank of England deputy governor Rupert Pennant-Rea predicts.

UK - Watson Wyatt is urging pension fund trustees to rethink their investment strategies in light of a nose dive by the FTSE100.

UK - Union leaders want compensation laws changed to give pension payments a higher priority.

EUROPE - Australian financial services giant AMP is to take a foothold in Italy's expanding pensions market with the AS$33m (EUR20m) acquisition of Commerzbank Asset Management Italia (CAMI).

UK - Tax free pensions are the key to closing the savings gap, research commissioned by RJ Temple shows.

SCOTLAND - Scottish textile company Richards has gone into receivership after failing to meet mounting minimum funding requirement repayments.

UK/GLOBAL - Hermes Pension Management is seeking to improve mutual understanding of corporate governance between Japan and the UK.