BlackRock

US - BlackRock is set to lose assets it oversees for the $42.9bn Massachusetts state pension fund over fears the firm is not adequately focused on some fixed-income markets.

Andrew Dyson has quit his role as global head of BlackRock's institutional asset management business, following an operational review that has now dissolved the position.

BlackRock has launched the Frontiers Investment Trust providing investors with long-term capital access to some of the fastest growing economies.

FRANCE - The Fonds de réserve pour les retraites (FRR) has fired BlackRock from a €478m ($651m) US small-cap equity portfolio, taking 87% of the assets the firm runs in the strategy.

NETHERLANDS - Dutch pension assets managed by external managers soared by 21% in the year ended March 31 to €922bn ($1.3trn), a report by consultancy Bureau Bosch shows.

The £4.6bn Merseyside Pension Fund has appointed four new asset managers to run its Asia-Pacific and emerging market portfolios following a review.

MSRPS; SSgA; Baillie Gifford & Co; BlackRock; Mercer; Matrix Group; International SOS; Nestlé; HSBC.

GLOBAL - A greater level of transparency is needed when ETF providers lend out securities held within their funds, according to industry experts.

US - BlackRock has appointed Chris Leavy as chief investment officer (CIO) of US fundamental equity.

Fiduciary management has recently hit the mainstream for UK pension funds. Laura Blows looks at how this market is developing