Europe

UK - Corporate governance standards of UK listed companies outperform the the rest of the world, Mark Burgess, head of equities, Legal & General Investment Management (L&G), has claimed.

EUROPE - AEGON has completed a securitisation deal to improve its capital efficiency, adding more than €315m (US$496m) to the group.

UK - Hays plc has appointed AllenbridgeEPIC (AEIA) as independent investment adviser and Alan Saunders as chairman of the pension scheme's investment committee.

UK - Dynamic allocation funds have proven increasingly popular with defined benefit (DB) pension schemes in the past year, according to Baring Asset Management.

UK - The Pensions Regulator's (TPR) announcement it will not backdate its stance on longevity and scheme funding has received a cautious welcome from the industry.

UK - Newsquest Media Group pension scheme has allocated 10% of its market value to two funds of hedge funds, in a quest for diversification of assets and superior risk adjusted returns.

UK - The £672m (US$1.3bn) London Borough of Tower Hamlets pension fund has selected Auriel Capital Management and Record Currency Management to handle its active currency hedging portfolio, according to MandateWire.

EUROPE - Fitch Ratings foresees a consolidation in the collateralised loan obligation (CLO) industry resulting from the challenging conditions of the European leveraged loan market.

The transition from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) and the growing influence of EU legislation are major issues facing the UK pensions industry, according to Aegon's outgoing director of pensions development Stewart Ritchie.

UK - The London Borough of Wandsworth pension fund is to tender between £475m and £750m (US$948m-$1.5bn) across four new mandates, as part of a restructuring of its portfolio.