Europe

UK - Unilever has appointed one of Mercer's top investment consultants to help run its pension scheme.

FRANCE - The Fonds de Réserve Pour les Retraites was down 4.2% in the second quarter, reversing gains in the first three months of the year.

DENMARK - The Danish government wants to set up a DKK5bn ($880m) venture capital pool with the country's pension funds to invest in small and medium sized domestic businesses.

UK - The part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland has cut its pension costs by £144m ($230m) compared with the first half of last year.

UK - A record £12.5bn ($20bn) risk transfer deals were done in the first half of the year and a quarter of major firms will de-risk by 2012, Hymans Robertson predicts.

UK - SL Investment Management, a traded endowment policy (TEP) and life settlement product provider, has acquired competitor PolicyPlus.

UK/US - The UK and US defined contribution markets are swapping attitudes towards annuitisation, industry figures say.

UK - Trustees could be on the hook for liabilities up to 15 years after a buyout has occurred if they fail to take adequate insurance cover, lawyers warn.

UK/CANADA - The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has set up a joint venture with Hammerson to acquire a £183m ($291m) City of London office block.

US/UK - Curtis Arledge, former chief investment officer for BlackRock's fundamental index portfolio, will join BNY Mellon Asset Management as vice chairman and chief executive.