Europe

UK - Massive potential pension scheme liabilities could sour the multi-billion pound merger between National Grid and Lattice, industry experts warn.

UK - Pension fund investment in property will not be affected by Chancellor Gordon Brown's decision to close tax loopholes, leading property investment managers claim.

ITALY - Italian trade unions have decided to extend the front in their battlewith the government to include alterations to the pensions system as one of the reforms to be opposed along with greater labour market flexibility.  

UK/EUROPE - Russell/Mellon CAPS has hired Richard Jobling to the newly-created post of head of sales, marketing and relationship management for UK and Europe.

UK - UBS Global Asset Management has appointed Terri-Ann Humphreys as head of UK communications.  

UK - Simplification Review chief Alan Pickering has called on the government to scrap unfunded council schemes and bring them into line with current industry standards.

UK - Lax service contracts enable third party administrators to avoid millions of pounds of claims by pension schemes, a leading lawyer claims.

UK - Six Continents' pension schemes have fired JP Morgan Fleming and may make more changes after an extensive this autumn.

UK/EUROPE - Russell/Mellon CAPS has hired Richard Jobling to the newly-created post of head of sales, marketing and relationship management for UK and Europe.

EUROPE - An unexpectedly sharp rise in the price of oil could have implications for investment decisions, according to CDC IXIS Asset Management's latest published market analysis.