Regions

SOUTH AFRICA - The Financial Services Board (FSB) has warned pension fund administrators the practice of bulking is unlawful and has threatened to conduct formal inspections.

DUBAI - ABN AMRO Asset Management could be operational in Dubai within six months according to David Waite, recently appointed head of asset management for the Middle East and Africa.

EUROPE - Pension funds are increasingly adding secured loans to their portfolio on the back of "huge" institutional interest in the asset class, said Henderson investment director Maria Ryan.

BELGIUM - Belgian pension funds delivered median returns of 16.8% in 2005, a strong result due in ...

GLOBAL - Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has appointed Francesca Fornasari and Steve Ellis to boost its global currency team in London both as executive directors and portfolio managers.

GLOBAL - UK pension funds are leaving billions of dollars sitting on the table by not claiming their share of the recompense won on behalf of shareholders in US securities class actions, it has been suggested.

GLOBAL - The Henderson Group has pulled out of the race to buy the UK arm of fund manager Gartmore, announcing it had decided not to pursue a "potential strategic acquisition".

EUROPE - PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has warned UK companies to urgently take action on the EU cross-border pension directive if they haven't already done so, as the 29 March deadline looms.

GLOBAL - Wilshire Associates and Dow Jones Indexes have launched a global version of their US real estate indexes, the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Real Estate Securities Index (RESI) and its subset, the Dow Jones Global REIT Index.

GLOBAL - The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has flagged up the "prudent person principle" as its core philosophy within newly released guidelines on pension fund asset management.