Europe

UK - Mercer Human Resource Consulting has warned that the new age discrimination proposals could result in the reduction of pensions benefits in at least a third of pension schemes.

FRANCE - The €29.1bn French Pensions Reserve Fund, Fonds De Reserve Pour Les Retraites (FRR), bounced back from a weak second quarter to increase its Assets under Management (AuM) by €1.5bn in Q3.

TURKEY - The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has urged Turkey to abolish restrictions on pension funds' portfolio limits and allow them a stake in the governance of the companies they are invested in.

EUROPE - Only 16% of European multinational companies plan to increase their pensions investment over the next year, according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting research.

ITALY - Trade unionist Raffaele Bonanni has called on prime minister Romano Prodi to "stop mincing his words" and draw up an organic project to stimulate the complementary pension system.

UK - Wholesale swapping into long dated sterling bonds in an effort to plug deficits is not the silver bullet for defined benefits UK pension schemes due to a shortage in supply, according to KMPG research.

GLOBAL - The £28bn Universities Superannuation Scheme in the UK and the $19bn Mississippi Public Employees Retirement System are taking on US media giant Viacom in a class action law suit regarding excessive executive compensation, Global Pensions can...

UK - State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has built on its currency team with the appointment of Collin Crownover, formerly of Citigroup, as global head of currency management.

UK - Asian equities exposure among pension funds increased by 6.1% to 13.2% over the last year, a poll by Baring Asset Managment has revealed.

EUROPE - A single European market would see pension funds posting higher returns and thus result in more savings and better pensions, said European commissioner Charlie McCreevy.