Europe

ITALY - The Italian pensions market needs a boost in competition and transparency to make up for the excess regulation, said Watson Wyatt.

IRELAND - Canada Life/Setanta and BIAM are Ireland's worst performing fund managers for the year-to-date, according to two investment manager surveys released today.

UK - British Airways Pension Fund (BAPF) and Tesco have announced a 50/50 joint property venture worth £445m.

ITALY - Trade unions have set up a pension fund for Italian professionals in the commercial, technical and health sectors.

UK - FTSE Group has launched the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT UK REIT index in response to the introduction of REIT legislation into the UK on January 1.

EUROPE - The implementation of better accounting practices for unfunded pension liabilities should be introduced across the Euro zone, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

UK - Pension scheme deficits in the FTSE 350 companies have dropped by 29%, from £86bn in 2005 to £61bn in 2006, according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

ITALY - Italian trade union Cisl has launched a nation-wide education campaign to help workers understand the implications of the pensions reform implemented on 1 January 2007.

UK - Pension funds returned a "solid, if not spectacular" 10% during 2006, according to a survey by WM Performance Services, the European performance measurement division of State Street Corporation.

UK - Arlington Securities has stated real estate investment trusts (REITs) are likely to be "of limited benefit" to institutional investors looking to invest in property for diversification reasons.