Europe

ITALY - The Italian Fondo Pensione Complementare per la Famiglia (Fondo Famiglia), the fund for housewives and part time workers is on the verge of appointing four asset managers to its fledgling fund.

UK - Pension schemes are not looking to follow Boots Pension Scheme which has sold all its equities and switched to a 100% bond portfolio. Indeed, some believe it is a good time to buy "cheap" equities.

UK - The £9.3bn British Airways Investment Fund has appointed property managers FPDSavills to manage three of its properties. The properties which FPDSavills will manage are Printworks in Manchester, Atlantic Wharf in Cardiff and Avonmeads in Bristol....

FINLAND - Financial services organisation Evli has reorganised its management structure, with changes affecting the life, mutual fund and asset management divisions, following a senior resignation.

UK - Carol Galley admitted that the portfolio handled by Alistair Lennard was one of the most "divergent" from the benchmark that she had ever seen, in a fourth day of courtroom grilling.

UK/RUSSIA - Pension funds are being urged to consider investing in Russia, which is currently one of the best performing European emerging markets.

DENMARK - ATP, the DKK256bn (EUR34bn) Danish pension fund, is tendering a $150-200m global emerging market equity mandate.

UK - Discretionary powers of pension trustees run counter to what modern society expects, ombudsman David Laverick believes.

FRANCE - Allianz Dresdner has merged its French asset management operations into one entity in order to strengthen its market position.

UK - Invesco has won a £100m active equity mandate for the Shipbuilding Industries Pension Scheme.