BlackRock

GLOBAL - BlackRock's net new business totalled US$82bn in the fourth quarter of 2009, with pension funds and other institutional investors accounting for 60% of it.

US - Russell Investments has tapped two Barclays Global Investors executives formerly tasked with growing its ETF arm iShares to help Russell build out products related to the exchange traded funds business.

After commodities' healthy rebound from the lows of 2008, Lynn Strongin Dodds discusses whether the asset class can go on to regain its pre-credit crunch highs

2009 seems to have been a long year in the world of pensions - and a year many will, no doubt, be glad is over.

GLOBAL - TCW's purchase of Metropolitan West Asset Management may be a predictor of things to come as independent firms will drive merger and acquisition activity in 2010, investment bank Jefferies said.

As the year winds to a close, Global Pensions takes a look back at the top 10 most read news stories of the year.

FRANCE - The Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites has hired five managers to run a total of around €1.5bn (US$2.1bn) in fixed income mandates.

SWEDEN - Swedish buffer fund AP1 has hired 12 small-cap equity managers, confirmed Peder Tiricke, senior portfolio manager in charge of external managers.

US - The Teachers Retirement System of Texas' (TRS) strategic partnership programme, which allows managers to provide proprietary research to the scheme alongside running broad asset management mandates, has returned 7.3% since its implementation a year...

US - Morgan Stanley has hired former Merrill Lynch veteran Gregory Fleming as president of its investment management unit.