Europe

UK - The UK pension fund buyout market in Q4 2007 increased by more than twice the previous three quarters put together, according to Aon Consulting.

UK - Deutsche Bank's exchange traded fund (ETF) subsidiary, db x-trackers, has announced the launch of two products aimed at institutional investors, offering exposure to emerging and frontier markets.

FRANCE - Government endowments helped the Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites' (FRR) assets rise by €3.3bn (US$4.8bn), despite its investments only producing a 4.8% return net of fees.

FRANCE - Pioneer Investments has appointed Fabien Madar as general manager of its French operation.

UK - Citi has appointment Satvinder Singh as head of direct custody and clearing and intermediaries in EMEA.

UK - BNY Convergex Group has opened a broker dealer in the UK to serve institutional investment clients in Europe.

UK- The aggregate funding position of defined benefit (DB) funds in the UK worsened for the third consecutive month in January, the Pension Protection Fund has estimated.

EUROPE - Ambitious proposals from the European Commission (EC) to tackle climate change, including a 20% reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, will provide pension funds with the impetus to invest in renewable energy.

UK - The House of Commons has appointed pensions services company rpmi to provide third party administration services to the trustees of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF).

UK -The £1.5bn (US$2.9bn) Durham County Council pension fund has today announced a radical shake-up of its asset allocations, with six new mandates going live across a range of asset classes, designed to increase returns and reduce contribution rates....