Regions

GLOBAL - Pension funds should base their investment decisions on scenario planning given current market uncertainty, but this is prevented by the fact the pension industry is massively incentivised to herding, Ashmore head of research Jerome Booth said....

GLOBAL - The current refinancing gap for middle market companies created by banks' unwillingness to lend is providing mezzanine debt investment opportunities for schemes, Mercer said.

UK - Hedging currency exposures can have as large an impact on the wealth of a portfolio as return-generating strategies, delegates at the Global Pensions Currency Management Forum in London heard.

What will this week bring from embattled Europe? The sovereign debt crisis has been gathering momentum, and like a pendulum swinging, with each pass it gathers speed and force.

It is surprising there has been no significant widening of credit spreads post the hung parliament and the eurozone crisis, Schroders says.

GLOBAL - Private equity funds managed to post positive returns of 15% for 2009 despite a slow start to the year, data from State Street revealed.

EUROPE - European investors show increasing concern on euro-denominated government debt due to recent market events and the pressure on the single currency, a survey by Fitch Ratings found.

GLOBAL - Pension funds activism as shareholders was "conspicuous by its absence" during the crisis but more engagement by schemes could have made things worse, an academic claimed.

GLOBAL - The European rescue package has provided an out for long-term investors that had underestimated credit risk in their European sovereign holdings, PIMCO managing director and head of European portfolio management Andrew Balls said.

GLOBAL - Mellon Transition Management managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa Tim Wilkinson has decided to leave the company to pursue other interests.