Europe

UK - The £650m Bedfordshire County Council Pension Scheme has chosen a property fund manager to run a £50m property mandate.

UK - PIRC has condemned British Sky Broadcasting's report and accounts and called its directors "unaccountable" and in "breach of every corporate governance guideline that exists."

UK - The £83bn Local Government Pension Scheme is considering closing DB provision to new members of the 89 local authority schemes in England and Wales. The Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) - which sets out local authority...

UK - Wendy Mayall said in the High court Wednesday that she told Alistair Lennard to "get on" with managing the UK equity portion of the Unilever Superannuation Fund.

EUROPE - Venture capitalists 3i Group is to axe jobs across Europe, following a near quarter drop in share value, static profits and a shrinking of its investment portfolio. The brunt of losses will hit the UK.

UK - Legal & General has selected two Dresdner RCM Global Investors funds for its stakeholder pensions platform.

UK - The Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds (AUTIF) and the Fund Managers' Association (FMA) are in talks that could see the merger of the two organisations by early next year.

UK - Total pension assets in corporate bonds is expected to increase as the FRS17 accounting standard takes effect, according to Charles McKenzie, fixed income manager at Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM).

EUROPE - Nicola Meaden - founder and chairman of TASS Investment Research - has quit the firm to join the London office of multi-manager Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (BAAM).

UK - In 10 years' time, there will be no defined benefit schemes as we know them now, according to Gerald Hough, managing director for European and Middle Eastern pensions at Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM).