Europe

UK - More than a quarter of closed defined benefit (DB) schemes will be replaced by defined contribution (DC) plans as a direct result of the economic crisis, research by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has shown.

UK - The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has defended its decision to lift the ban on the short selling of financial stocks - dismissing concerns this had caused dramatic falls in financial stocks' prices over the last week.

UK - The £2.2bn Avon Pension Fund has awarded a £90m property mandate to Schroders as part of a wider allocation to UK and European property.

UK - Pension buyout specialist Paternoster has announced 2008 full year premium income of £1.1bn (US$1.5bn), marking a 71% increase in transferred assets over 2007, but warned of a slower 2009.

UK - National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) chairman Chris Hitchen has called on pension funds to resurrect their stock lending programmes.

FRANCE - The Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraite (FRR), France's pension reserve fund, has awarded a €1bn (US$1.3bn) European equity mandate to Barclays Global Investors (BGI).

UK - Allowing limited early access to pension pots could boost aggregate retirement savings by up to £400bn, a Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) research report finds.

UK - Rapidly falling inflation risks tipping over into deflation, which could prove beneficial to the country's pensioners, Punter Southall claims.

UK - Nortel UK has approached the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) seeking rescue for its 43,000-member pension scheme, after the company was placed into administration last week.

UK - Japanese and Asian equities specialist Tokio Marine Asset Management (TMA) has launched its London asset management business, targeting UK and continental European institutional investors.