Europe

UK/GLOBAL - International Pensions News can reveal that troubled Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) has haemorrhaged around £2.2bn in global pension fund business during the last 18 months, and could be on the verge of shredding up to another £2.5bn....

UK - Fund managers have been slow to react to opportunities in global equities despite demand from pension schemes, UBS Global Asset Management believes.

EUROPE/UK - Private equity will continue to see an influx of new money and investors despite poor short-term performance figures, fund managers are predicting.

UK - Consulting giant Watson Wyatt is calling for fund managers to bear the cost and responsibility for reporting on transaction costs.

UK - Watson Wyatt is to provide actuarial and consultancy services for the £900m Coors (formerly Bass) Brewers pension plan.

UK - Retail property offers pension funds the best protection against the recessionary risks facing the economy, Deutsche Bank Real Estate Research claims.

UK - Tory MPs have accused the Office for National Statistics of "bungling incompetence" over its latest figures for occupational pension scheme funding.

UK - British Airways Pension Scheme members have won their long-running battle to stop "surplus cash" being paid to the airline giant.

UK/EUROPE - Alternative asset manager Man Group is to buy Switzerland's RMF for $833m in a bid to become the world's largest hedge fund manager.

UK - The inclusion criteria for socially responsible index FTSE4Good has been revised for the first time since its launch last year.