Europe

RUSSIA - Not even the so-called BRIC countries survived unscathed the credit crisis, despite performing well above western countries in recent years, according to participants of a recent roundtable in Moscow.

EUROPE - Dutch pension funds, including the giant ABP, are among investors in the DIF Infrastructure II fund which has been closed at approximately €200m.

UK - The Department for Work and Pensions is considering options to relax rules which force firms winding up a pension scheme as part of a corporate restructure or demerger to fully cover liabilities.

UK - Britain's pension provision has never been more unaffordable and this generation faces being less well-off in retirement than their parents, the Conservatives warn.

UK - Pension funds are continuing to move assets out of equities and into other investment classes, the National Association of Pension Funds says.

ITALY - The circa €660m (US$840.9m) open pension fund Arca Previdenza is set to receive new members following a decision by supervisory authority COVIP that the €3m Fondo Pensione Complementare Nazionale Famiglia will be liquidated, MandateWire reports....

UK - The aggregate funding position of some 7,800 defined benefit (DB) pension schemes is estimated to have worsened over the month of October to a deficit of £97.3bn (US$154bn), the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) says.

UK - HSBC is set to announce changes to its defined benefit pension scheme after a consultation period with trade unions closed six weeks ago, Unite says.

ITALY - Bank of Italy's vice director general Antonio Finocchiaro has been nominated president of COVIP, the Italian watchdog of pension funds.

UK - Investors are better off saving for their retirement by depositing money into savings accounts than investing in occupational pension schemes, an independent consultant warns.