Europe

UK - Trustees from the UK's biggest pension schemes are not receiving sufficient training, institutional broker Instinet claims.

UK - Rowe Price International have appointed Kamran Baig (pictured) as head of non-US equity research.

UK - Midas Capital Partners has achieved returns of 21.9% for the year to June 2004 on its pooled pension fund.

UK - Schemes must be wary of the ‘hype' surrounding hedge funds and should look at other alternative asset classes instead, the private investor network Hotbed claims.

EUROPE - There is an urgent need for pension reform in Europe but the problem needs to be tackled as part of a "whole package" of economic reforms, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

UK - The Inland Revenue has released figures which prove tax relief for all UK pension schemes has been overstated by about £3bn a year since 1999.

UK - US-based fixed-income asset management company PIMCO has created a new marketing and communications position at its London office with the aim of enhancing the firm's UK pension focus.

UK - The £28bn BT Pension Scheme is lobbying the government to increase the risk-based element of the Pension Protection Fund levy to at least 80%.

UK - Work and pensions secretary Alan Johnson has his ‘head in the sand' by refusing to lift the retirement age, industry leaders warn.

UK - Accounting giant KPMG is to appeal against the High Court's ruling that its Pre-2000 Pension Fund is a defined benefit scheme.