Regions

INCLUDING: US - AIG names senior vice president; UK - Buck Consultants appoints Chris Evans; GERMANY - Heidelberg Pension Trust chooses currency management; UK - B&CE Benefit Schemes appoints Frank McCann

CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE - Employee benefits across Central and Eastern European countries are not homogenous, according to new reports published by Watson Wyatt.

INCLUDING: GLOBAL - Hedge fund code fails to gather support; US - Retirees 'afraid' to spend retirement investments; UK - Airport chaos threatened

GLOBAL - The "explosion" in cross-border capital flows witnessed as institutional investors move away from their traditional home bias has caused currency valuations to be severely "stretched", according to one expert.

SWEDEN - Alpha and beta separation is continuing to be a growing trend among pension funds, with the latest announcement that Sweden's SEK225bn (US$37.5bn) AP3 fund has restructured its asset management operations.

Including: UK - Hewitt selected by House of Fraser; CHINA - Invesco pledges to help quake victims; IRELAND - Mercer managed fund index falls; DENMARK - Pension reforms suggested

Including: US - NYC faces $500m extra pension costs; SWEDEN - SEB pension insurers fined $5m; CANADA - BCE deal goes to appeal; AFRICA - Uganda backs reform

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA - Expanding growth and liquidity has made the Middle East and North African (MENA) one of the more attractive growth regions in the near future, according to senior figures at Pictet Funds.

GLOBAL - Reducing volatility in investment portfolios has been named as a top priority by UK pension plan sponsors, in a survey by SEI.

GLOBAL - AEGON has revealed plans to merge its asset management businesses in the US, UK, and the Netherlands by January 2009.