Europe

UK - Directors' share options are more than twice as high as shareholders expect or want them to be, a new survey shows.

UK - The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) is unrepentant over FRS17, which has been cited as a factor in the closure of several defined benefit schemes.

UK - Fund managers are tentatively starting to move excess cash into equities, according to a worldwide survey undertaken by Merrill Lynch. Many managers made the switch after finding themselves with high cash balances last month, when equities appeared...

UK - The High Court has overturned a finding of maladministration by the previous pensions ombudsman against the trustees of the National Union of Seamen Officials and Employees Superannuation Fund.

UK - Significant acquisitions in the year to September 30, 2001 have led to an increase in Aberdeen Asset Management's assets under management by £12.8bn, from £21.9bn to £34.7bn.

EUROPE - Socially responsible investment (SRI) is set to receive a boost in Europe with the creation of a new platform to promote SRI throughout the region.

UK - A fund manager might as well flip a coin to predict exchange rate fluctuations, according to an expert witness in the Unilever vs. Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) case. In his second day as a witness called by the pension fund in the landmark...

UK - The £14m Marshall Cavendish Pension Fund has increased Gartmore Investment Management's asset holding in the publishing fund by £2.7m.

UK - Aberdeen Asset Management has expanded its executive board with the appointment of Katherine Garrett-Cox as an executive director with immediate effect.

EUROPE - F&C Management has appointed Patrick Hendrikx as head of global credit, effective from January 1, 2002.