Europe

UK - Robert Jenkins, non-executive chairman of F&C Asset Management, will become the next chairman of the Investment Management Association (IMA), subject to ratification by members.

BELGIUM - KBC Asset Management is to launch an LDI product "around February" that will target Belgian and Dutch pension funds.

FRANCE - Francois Hollande, chairman of the French socialist party, has timed airing the party's plans for pension reform to coincide with a major government debate on the issue this week.

EUROPE - Arlington Securities has launched a Continental European Logistics Fund that will allow the fund to hold a portfolio of prime industrial real estate exceeding €1.2bn.

BELGIUM - Pension fund demand for SRI is set to increase significantly in Belgium despite the fact they have thus far failed to convert their words into action, said Peter de Proft, CEO for Belgium at Fortis Investments.

FRANCE - Hermes Private Equity (HPE) has acquired a stake in French holiday park operator Siblu Holdings, in a deal worth £100m.

UK - As announced at the Global Pensions Transition Management Forum 2006, the T-Charter has gone out for general and widespread industry consultation, meeting the Christmas deadline set by key industry figures at the event.

UK - Less than a third of defined contribution (DC) scheme members understand how cash, equity and bond funds work, a Mercer Investment Consulting survey has found.

SAN MARINO - San Marino's ambitious pension reform programme will "fail to wean pension fund from steady and increasing budget transfers for the foreseeable future," according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report.

UK - Pension fund trustees may have to set aside "vast additional reserves" to cover risks posed by the possible incorporation of some aspects of Solvency II in the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORP) directive, Andrew Cox, partner...