Europe

DENMARK - Sampension has set in motion a restructure of its €2bn ($2.6bn) equities portfolio by incorporating a core/satellite approach and plans to search for absolute return strategies for the first time.

PORTUGAL - Portugal Telecom has agreed to sign over its pension fund, which has €2.8bn ($3.7bn) in liabilities, to the state.

UK - F&C Investments has merged a number of its key investment teams to form a new investment solutions division and announced three hires to boost its fiduciary offering.

UK - The UK private pension system is "not fit for purpose" and "hugely inefficient", research by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce finds.

DENMARK - The private equity arm of pension fund ATP has launched a new €1bn ($1.3bn) fund backed fully by the pension scheme.

UK - Projected costs of enforcing the auto-enrolment regime were redacted from the Making Auto-enrolment Work Review but are substantial, delegates heard.

UK - There is a "real danger" the auto-enrolment regime could be so broad it becomes an unenforceable law, Alan Pickering warns.

UK - The top 100 UK firms' defined benefit schemes knocked £42bn off their combined deficit over the last year, Pension Capital Strategies research shows.

UK/NETHERLANDS - The number of pension plans adopting liability driven investing strategies has remained robust over the past year, with schemes in the UK and Netherlands leading the way, SEI says.

EUROPE - The pension plans of the world's largest multinationals have fallen further into deficit despite record company contributions, new research shows.