Global

UK - Equities have been given a "renewed vote of confidence" by institutional investors, showed the results of the latest Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers.

Gloabl - A report from the OECD has pointed to the potential of pension fund money in the development of global infrastructure.

GLOBAL - Differences in national regulations are creating an unlevel performance playing field for direct benefit (DB) pension schemes according to a new survey by Allianz Global Investors.

GLOBAL- Institutional asset managers have backed actively managed funds after a report claimed investors would benefit more from investing in index-tracking funds.

EUROPE - The European Commission (EC) has opened infringement proceedings against nine EU member states for their alleged discriminatory taxation of dividend and interest payments to foreign EU pension funds.

Global - Credit Suisse's asset management arm has increased its asset under management (AUM) to CHF 708.6 bn, up 5.8 % since December 31, 2006.

GLOBAL - Schroders has released its first quarter results and announced a loss of £2.5bn in institutional assets under management (AUM) despite reporting a pre-tax profit of 30%.

GLOBAL -The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) initiative had 180 institutional signatories globally, representing more than US$8trn in assets under management (AuM), in its first year.

GLOBAL - MSCI Barra and Standard & Poor's (S&P) have launched Islamic indices designed to reflect Shariah principles and dividend purification rules.

GLOBAL - The ICGN has issued set of governing principles urging greater oversight of how votes are cast in corporate elections.