Europe

UK - The Co-operative Insurance Society has called on institutional investors to open up their voting records to public scrutiny.

NETHERLANDS/UK - Dutch financial services giant Aegon has become one of the top 10 independent financial advisory (IFA) distributors in the UK following the acquisition of Elliott Bayley Company for an undisclosed sum.

UK - Consultants are split over the viability of a popular US-style DC plan partly based on company profit.

UK - The Bank of England has restarted contributions of 10% into its £1.85bn pension fund after revealing a deficit of £205m.

UK - Former NAPF investment committee chairman Alan Rubenstein launched a blistering attack on the Higgs report and dismissed it as "irrelevant".

UK - Annual returns on property improved to 10.1%, the latest Insignia Richard Ellis Monthly Index shows.

UK - A flood of scheme closures are inevitable because the government is ignoring the pensions crisis, OPAS has warned.

EUROPE - Angry trade unions across the UK, Germany and the Netherlands have appealed to the European Commission and local governments to formally crack down on excessive executive pay.

UK - IFA software manufacturer Synaptic Systems has redesigned and upgraded its website.

UK - Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has won the Innovation of the Year award for its UK Balanced Property Trust.