Europe

UK - Pension funds are constraining the performance of their fixed income managers by restricting them to investment grade bonds, financial risk management specialist Barra claims.

UK - Oil company Cairn Energy's fourth oil discovery in Rajasthan, India, has boosted returns for Isis Asset Management's UK equity funds.

UK - Senior Tory and Labour MPs have held talks with the Unclaimed Assets Register over compensation for workers who lost pension savings when their firms failed.

UK - Barclays is launching a new-style home computing scheme which allows staff to buy discounted PCs direct from shops.

UK - New stakeholder proposals put forward by the Treasury are based on optimistic and unrealistic assumptions, Tillinghast Towers Perrin claims.

UK - Global Investment Systems is launching an Oracle database compatible version of MFACT, its shareholder accounting system.

UK - Early preparation could avoid delays for individuals needing to obtain details of their existing and deferred pension benefits, which need to be valued against the new Lifetime Allowance (LTA), Watson Wyatt has warned.

UK - Gartmore Investment management will merge its UK retail and global Bancassurance teams when Global head Steen Steincke steps down from his position at the end of the month.

UK - Isis Asset Management has hit back at claims that governance activists are "in the thrall" of trade unions.

UK - The Mall - owner and operator of community shopping centres across the UK - has attracted 15 new institutional investors.