Europe

UK - Hermes Equity Ownership Services (EOS) has teamed with Corston-Smith Asset Management to launch the ASEAN Corporate Governance Fund, which is the first absolute return fund of its kind globally.

UK - Women and carers may soon be allowed to top-up their National Insurance in order to receive a higher state pension, under amendments to the Pensions Bill being proposed by the government today.

CYPRUS - Sodexo has re-appointed Hewitt Associates to provide actuarial and investment consulting and administration services to its retirement and medical funds in Cyprus.

UK - The British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) pension scheme has had £1bn (US$1.6bn) stripped from its value, with total assets reported to stand at £6.9bn.

FRANCE - Crédit Agricole Structured Asset Management (CASAM) has announced the launch of 10 exchange traded funds (ETFs).

GLOBAL - Watson Wyatt has restructured its manager research team in a bid to make its global methodology more consistent.

UK - Trustees and employers are being "too reactive" by taking pension scheme buyout off the table as a result of the turbulent market conditions, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) warns.

UK - The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) saw £4bn (US$6.5bn) wiped off its value in Q1 as a result of adverse market movements, according to the fund's annual report.

UK - More than 1,000 protestors are expected to lobby the UK parliament today to demand a higher state pension for both today's pensioners and future generations, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

EUROPE - The hedge fund industry needs to prioritise meeting capital adequacy requirements in order to overcome the current market environment, the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has said.