Regions

EUROPE - Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services saw overall sales of life and pensions grow by only 3% to £3.8bn in its UK, Irish, and international businesses.

EUROPE - Gartmore has strengthened its German and Italian offices with three more appointments.

GLOBAL - Real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle has appointed Lauralee Martin as executive vice president and chief financial officer.

GLOBAL - Rating agency Standard & Poor's has launched the S&P1000 index for mid cap, and small cap stocks as part of its US suite.

GLOBAL - Northern Trust Company has introduced a new web-based service for institutional clients and fund managers.

GLOBAL - JP Morgan Chase's net income took a severe dent last year plunging by a massive $4.04bn on the previous year's figure.

GLOBAL - SecFinex, the online marketplace for securities finance, has appointed John Oddie as CEO and board member.

UK/EUROPE - Scottish Widows International is launching an offshore US dollar with-profits fund and Euro with-profits fund via its international investment bond from January 18.

GLOBAL - Reech Capital has launched RiskHedge, a risk management engine for the hedge fund market, which will give hedge fund managers access to the kind of risk technology formerly only available to large investment banks, at a cost specifically tailored...

GLOBAL - Emerging markets took the lion's share of returns for the second consecutive month, according to latest figures from the CSFB/Tremont Hedge Fund Index.