Europe

UK - The Merseyside Pension Fund has put its principals of governance out for review, with environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues at the heart of the proposals.

UK - SEI has announced the launch of its PensionConnect platform in the UK.

UK - Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund has split its Asian equities portfolio following poor performance by its managers.

UK - Punter Southall has released a 'wish list' for the Pensions Bill, which is due to be released tomorrow.

EUROPE - Improvements in pension funding levels are giving European plan sponsors the opportunity to experiment with new strategies to reduce their portfolios' risk profiles and link assets with liabilities, according to Greenwich Associates.

UK - Suffolk County Council pension fund has appointed two active currency mandates to Millennium Global Investments and Record Currency Management, worth £500m (US$1.03bn).

UK - Pension funds that recently invested in corporate bonds could have locked in lost returns of £500m or more when compared to government bonds, according to the investment practice of Hewitt Associates.

FRANCE - The annual Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) survey has demonstrated French institutional investors place a high value on 'green' and responsible investing with a heavy focus on the environment.

The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) has launched a self assessment tool to gauge schemes' responsible investment levels.

Changes to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levy have received a mixed reaction from industry analysts.