Regions

GLOBAL - Fund managers have sharply conflicting views on how the current downturn will play out, Hewitt Associates says.

EUROPE - British Telecom could have to pay the Pension Protection Fund £16.6m (US$23.9m) after its partial exemption from levies was declared illegal by the European Commission.

EUROPE - Style or strategic exchange traded funds (ETFs), offering investors short or leveraged positions, now account for a third of total European ETF turnover, data from Deutsche Bank reveals.

GLOBAL - More investors than ever before consider corporate policies on climate change when making investment decisions, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has said.

GLOBAL - The US Private Equity Council has launched a set of comprehensive responsible investment guidelines its members will apply prior to investing in companies and during their period of ownership.

GLOBAL - Barclays Global Investors profit before tax decreased 19% in 2008, to £595m (US$888m) from £734m posted in 2007.

GLOBAL - BNY Mellon Asset Management has launched two investment boutiques - one focused on the management of domestic Australian equities, the other on emerging markets equities and global fixed income.

GLOBAL - No economic model or financial forecast will accurately predict what happens in the next six to 12 months - except by pure chance, European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) economic commentator Anatole Kalesky has claimed.

EUROPE - The European exchange traded fund (ETF) market grew by over 6% in 2008 to reach a total assets under management (AuM) in excess of €91bn (US$118bn), according to Lyxor Asset Management.

Including: UK - Hammersmith tenders for new consultant; SWITZERLAND - Cantons reject full coverage for public funds; US - Funds sue UBS over fraud claims