Europe

UK - The Northern Electric Group Pension Scheme has dropped Mercer Investment Consulting and brought Watson Wyatt on board as its adviser.

MALTA - The Opposition leader has said pension funding and payments should be resegregated - as they were in the 70s.

EUROPE - Teesland iOG aims to raise e280m equity from institutional investors following the launch of its Nordic Aktiv Property Fund - the first in a series of high-yielding multi-sector and specialist funds the firm plans to launch in Europe.

UK - JPMorgan continues the restructuring of its pension advisory group started in January, with the recruitment of Costas Yiasoumi as vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

UK - A draft proposal released by The International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) aims to clarify the murky relationship between "statutory or contractual minimum funding requirements and the requirements of the pensions standard,...

SCANDINAVIA - Nordic pension funds and other institutional investors are showing increasing demand for alternative assets, according to Standard Life Investments.

DENMARK - Steen Svendsen, managing director of Schroders Investment Management Denmark, has joined private equity group SVG Capital as a consultant.

EUROPE - Asset liability management advice is unlikely to become a low skill, commodity business, according to F&C Asset Management.

UK - Investment managers looking to enter the LDI space should be aware of the high skill set and cost barriers, Investit Intelligence has warned.

ITALY - The government has confirmed plans to merge its welfare entities in an effort to make the social security system more efficient.