Europe

FRANCE - Lyxor Asset Management, owned by Société Générale Group, has launched a new exchange traded fund (ETF) on the Euronext Paris based on the on Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Index.

UK - Northern Trust has been appointed as the new global custodian for part of BAE Systems‚ £6bn pension funds, stealing the mandate from JP Morgan Investor Services.

UK - The rate of defined benefit scheme closures to new members has more than doubled in the past two years, a new survey reveals.

UK - Watson Wyatt has appointed Mitesh Sheth as a senior research analyst to its global manager research team.

UK - The SIPP market could double as hundreds of thousands of people become increasingly dissatisfied with their current pensions arrangements, Close Wealth Management claims.

UK - Integrated Asset Management has purchased investment boutique Appleton UK in a £1.5m deal.

UK - Standard Life has been awarded the Raising Standards Quality Mark by the Pensions Protection Investments Accreditation Board.

UK - Directors' pay rates have risen year-on-year for the past decade with no commensurate toughening of performance targets, corporate governance specialist PIRC claims.

UK - Gissings Technology Managed Services has promoted Jeff Highfield and Sean Hansbury as directors.

UK - Compulsion is the only way to bridge the UK's £27bn pension gap, market analyst Datamonitor says.