Europe

UK - William M. Mercer has been appointed as consultant and actuary to the new £50m DuPontSA UK pension schemes.

UK - Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM) will be hosting an investment conference for French institutional investors in London on October 31.

UK - Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt last week announced that shareholders are to be given the right to an annual vote on directors' pay, in a move that will strengthen links between pay and performance in the boardroom.

UK - Invesco, one of the UK's largest independent investment managers, today announced that it has appointed Jane Drew as head of public relations.

UK - Aqera launches this week, offering a new business and IT infrastructure to UK financial product providers in the highly regulated 1% world.

UK - David Rough has announced his early retirement as group director of investments from UK life assurers Legal & General to "develop new interests and a portfolio life."

UK - The Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) said it was "very troubled" by further complexities that have come to light in the wake of the Government's response to the Myners' review.

UK - MPs from all sides slammed Treasury inaction over the Equitable debacle, calling for the Government to compensate policyholders should they be found guilty of "negligence" by the long awaited Penrose inquiry.

UK - Balanced funds registered a -12.6% median return during the third quarter of 2001, the worst result on record since the -15.2% return for Q3 in 1990, according to the latest CAPS pooled pension fund survey.

UK - The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has admitted that "a number of issues could have been better handled", following the release of a report pointing to its role in the demise of former mutual, Equitable Life.