United Kingdom

UK- The London Borough of Brent pension fund is seeking a specialist currency manager for active alpha generation.

UK - Merseyside Pension Fund has selected State Street to provide custody, securities lending, cash management and foreign exchange services.

UK - Following Independent Trustee Services' (ITS) appointment to two of the underfunded MG Rover Pension Schemes it has confirmed that its objective is for each scheme to enter the Pension Protection Fund.

UK - The £3bn J Sainsbury's Pension Fund has decided to double its allocation to alternatives from 5% to 10%.

UK - As pressure mounts on the UK government and opposition parties to find a way to solve the looming pensions crisis, Mike Fosberry, director, Smith & Williamson, has questioned whether the solution should be politically driven at all.

UK - Ashmore Investment Management has announced the launch of its second Global Special Situations Investment Fund aimed predominantly at the institutional market place.

UK - Low volatility within the UK equity market could heighten the challenges of managing new pension fund strategies such as portable alpha, unconstrained and absolute return funds, warns Investec Asset Management.

UK - Bank of Ireland Asset Management has appointed Olivier Santamaria as managing director of the UK business, replacing David Boal who left to join Perpetual Trustees late last year.

UK - The £1.7bn Cheshire County Council pension fund is outsourcing 30% of its portfolio to UK and global equity managers.

UK - Standard Life Investments has made a preliminary agreement with The Bank of New York with a view to adopting it as a provider of a range of mutual fund administration services.