Europe

UK - The £450m Clwyd Pension Fund has appointed ABN Amro Mellon Global Securities Services to provide it with custody, investment accounting and securities lending services.

UK - Construction giant Aker Kvaerner is severing its ties with Capita Hartshead and bringing its pensions administration back in-house.

UK - Exposure to private equity and hedge funds remains low despite the majority of investors being "satisfied" with performance figures, a new survey reveals.

UK - Senior members of the government-sponsored Employer Task Force on Pensions fear their findings will be "swept under the carpet".

UK - Members of the state-funded Race Equality Council's final salary scheme have been warned they could lose their death and sickness benefits permanently.

EUROPE - A new report has called for urgent shifts in the employment patterns of older workers if many developed economies are to avert the rising costs of early retirement.

UK - The future of Edinburgh Fund Managers could rest on a successful takeover deal by Isis Asset Management, industry sources claim.

UK - More than three-quarters of employer-sponsored stakeholder pension schemes remain "empty boxes", research by the Association of British Insurers shows.

EUROPE - JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management is calling for greater education about alternative investments following survey results which suggest that many European institutions still view the asset class as too risky.

UK - Brown Brothers Harriman Investor Services is to establish a direct custody facility in the UK.