United Kingdom

GLOBAL - Henderson has confirmed talks with New Star Asset Management regarding a possible offer for acquisition.

UK - Old Mutual Asset Managers (OMAM) has launched a currency hedge fund.

UK - The falling value of sterling represents an opportunity for foreign sponsors of defined benefit (DB) pension funds to take action on scheme deficits, according to consultants Punter Southall.

UK - More than a quarter of closed defined benefit (DB) schemes will be replaced by defined contribution (DC) plans as a direct result of the economic crisis, research by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has shown.

UK - The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has defended its decision to lift the ban on the short selling of financial stocks - dismissing concerns this had caused dramatic falls in financial stocks' prices over the last week.

UK - The £2.2bn Avon Pension Fund has awarded a £90m property mandate to Schroders as part of a wider allocation to UK and European property.

UK - Pension buyout specialist Paternoster has announced 2008 full year premium income of £1.1bn (US$1.5bn), marking a 71% increase in transferred assets over 2007, but warned of a slower 2009.

UK - National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) chairman Chris Hitchen has called on pension funds to resurrect their stock lending programmes.

UK - Allowing limited early access to pension pots could boost aggregate retirement savings by up to £400bn, a Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) research report finds.

UK - Rapidly falling inflation risks tipping over into deflation, which could prove beneficial to the country's pensioners, Punter Southall claims.