Regions

UK - Hermes BPK Partners chief executive officer Matteo Perruccio said Europe's draft plans to regulate its alternative investment funds could be a boon to investment consultants if it goes ahead as planned.

GLOBAL - Pension funds are missing out on the benefits of using exchange traded funds within their securities lending programmes, industry experts said.

EUROPE/FRANCE - The European Commission has told France to change tax rules that penalise foreign pension and investment funds.

AUSTRALASIA - The median Australian superannuation growth fund was up 20.4% in the year ending February while the New Zealand Superannuation fund was up 17.4% from the start of its fiscal year in July.

UK/GLOBAL - The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) decided to sell its stake in Océ to Canon after the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeals rejected the pension fund's request to investigate Canon's tender offer to buy Océ.

EUROPE - The European Parliament economic and monetary affairs committee (EP) reached a compromise agreement on the scope of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive that could allow non EU-domiciled funds to be marketed in Europe.

EUROPE - European Union finance ministers failed to agree on a draft law to regulate hedge funds and private equity firms, which the U.K. said could hurt London's competitiveness as a financial centre.

US - The California Public Employees' Retirement System has announced plans to ask 58 of the top US firms in its global equity portfolio to adopt the majority vote standard in uncontested elections for corporate directors.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) said it returned 6.5% per annum for the past 20 years, providing its first peek into its investment operations since inception in 1976.

GLOBAL - Fewer than one in 10 institutional investors has invested in Ucits-compliant hedge funds, but 35% could within 12 months, in what could prove a major boost for the US$35bn regulated long/short sector, research by Preqin revealed.