Europe

SCOTLAND - The £180m Scottish Borders Council Superannuation Fund is eyeing specialist strategies in a move that could see the local authority fund tender its entire assets.

UK - The £430m Northumberland County Council Pension Fund has completed its manager reshuffle with three final appointments, leaving Merrill Lynch Investment Management and Schroder Investment Management counting a near £400m loss.

UK - AXA Rosenberg Investment Management (Europe), the specialist quantitative manager, has won its first pan-European mandate from a UK pension fund.

NORWAY - The NOK1.4bn Norwegian Larvik Kommunes Primæroppgavefond (Larvik local authority surplus fund) is prepping itself for a potential first foray into hedge funds.

UK - Pirelli Common Investment Fund, formerly the Pirelli UK Tyres pension fund, has awarded a £64m global equity mandate to Dresdner RCM Global Investors.

UK - Pensions Management Institute president Ian Eggleden has presented the first ever Qualification in Public Sector Pensions Administration (QPSPA) certificates.

UK - Morley Fund Management has appointed Anne Faber as an assistant fund manager in the external property funds emerging sectors team, based in London.

UK - Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) continued to accuse Unilever Superannuation Fund of contributory negligence by launching a stinging assault on the pension fund's CIO, Wendy Mayall, in the High Court yesterday.

UK - The High Court heard on Monday that Unilever trustees were unaware of plans to change the benchmark against which Mercury Asset Management (MAM) would be assessed until after it became part of the contract.

EUROPE - Winterthur Life & Pensions, a subsidiary of Credit Suisse Group - has appointed Michael Franz as CEO for Central and Eastern Europe in a bid to develop operations in the region.