Europe

UK - BlackRock head of defined contribution sales Emma Douglas has left the firm for Mercer where she will help launch and head up the consultant's corporate wrap offering.

UK/BELGIUM - The Upper Tribunal expressed "serious reservations" about the amount The Pensions Regulator is chasing in its contribution notice against Michel Van De Wiele NV.

DENMARK - Lærernes Pension, the pension fund for Danish teachers, has hired State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) to run a $271m US investment-grade bond portfolio with an environmental, social and governance screen.

EUROPE - Introducing unnecessary detail to new Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) measures could harm investors, the Investment Management Association warns.

UK - Pensions are seen as an "old fashioned" way to save for retirement compared with property, Aegon research finds.

UK - Introducing shared risk through a career average scheme for the public sector is the only way to achieve long-term sustainability and lasting reform, Mercer says.

UK - Commercial real estate sales rose by 44% last year as pension funds and other institutional investors targeted supermarkets and central London office space, figures show.

UK - Inflation edged closer towards 4% in December as the rising cost of food and oil products continued to hit the price of goods and services.

EUROPE - The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has called for the implemented form of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) to be flexible, proportionate and based on the principles of openness and transparency....

UK - Two more senior figures are to leave insurance giant Aegon UK as the company continues a restructuring programme designed to cut operating costs by 25% by the end of the year.