Europe

UK - The total deficit of FTSE 100 pension schemes would amount to around £100bn (US$141bn) if liabilities were valued using "normal" levels of credit spreads, Pension Capital Strategies warns.

FRANCE - The Fonds de reserve pour les retraites (FRR) has reported a 24.8% decline in its performance during 2008.

EUROPE - Fixed income asset managers are changing their investment strategies and product offerings in response to ongoing credit market dislocations, a Fitch Ratings report says.

UK - Oil giant Ineos has ended months of staff unrest by agreeing a revised set of pension changes with trade union Unite.

UK - The trend of cutting dedicated SRI research is 'short-sighted' and 'counterproductive', FairPensions says.

UK - Taxpayers will have to find an extra £335bn over the next 50 years to fund gold-plated public sector pensions, a report claims.

ITALY - The overall subscription to Italian pension funds has increased by 7.2% over 2008, despite severe market turmoil, data by COVIP reveal.

UK - The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has given its broad support to proposals which will help institutional investors on issues such as voting and the obligations of proxies.

UK - The £400m Harsco Investment Pension Fund has dropped one of its bond managers as part the implementation of the final stage of its liability driven investment (LDI) strategy.

UK - The deteriorating economic climate will create new conditions for pension funds in the year ahead, according to BlackRock.