Europe

UK - The Pension Protection Fund's financial situation might drive trustees to consider a buyout to prevent their scheme falling into the lifeboat fund, Paternoster says.

UK - Troubled building society Dunfermline has applied for its pension scheme to enter the Pension Protection Fund.

UK- BNY Mellon has released its BNY Mellon Global Strategic Bond Fund, a global multi-sector fixed income fund targeted to UK investors designed to capture alpha opportunities from across the global fixed income markets.

GLOBAL/UK- Schemes with sponsors domiciled outside the European Economic Area (EEA) are at risk of being denied Pension Protection Fund coverage despite paying the levy, a consultant warns.

UK- Insurance giant Aviva is to make staff across its UK operations contribute to their defined contribution pension fund for the first time.

FRANCE - The French pension fund Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR) is searching for managers to run global exposures mandates spanning various asset classes.

UK- Aon has announced plans to cut employer contributions to its UK pension by up to half as part of its plan to tackle the recession.

EUROPE/ MIDDLE EAST- Pyramis Global Advisors aims to tap directly into the UK, European and sovereign wealth market through the heavy marketing of a suite of long/short equity strategies the firm is rolling out.

GREECE - The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ordered an end to earlier retirement for Greek women that work in the public sector and found the Greek system did not offer sufficient support for the personal advancement of women in the workplace.

NORWAY - The Government Pension Fund - Global, one of the largest pension funds in the world, has ruled out investing in high yield and emerging market bonds for the foreseeable future, a government reports indicates.