News

UK - Lancashire County Council pension fund has placed a specialist global passive mandate worth £350m (US$630m) out to tender.

US - Cash balance pension plans have again become a viable option for companies in the US after a series of appeals court rulings put an end to uncertainty surrounding their future.

US - New Jersey's Treasury Department can move ahead with planned investments into hedge funds and private equities after a state appeals court rejected a challenge from two of the state's largest unions.

EUROPE - A growing move by pension funds towards hedge fund replication has prompted a warning they could be missing out on the returns offered by funds of hedge funds.

INDIA - More than 15 of the world's top 20 global pension funds are making investments in India, according to Watson Wyatt.

US - The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) has criticised institutional fund manager Hermes over poor performance in one of its portfolios.

NETHERLANDS - Dutch pension fund manager Shell Asset Management Company BV (SAMco) has acquired a 19.5% stake in Azure Dynamics Corporation, a producer of hybrid electric and electric commercial vehicles.

GLOBAL - Transition managers are being pushed into the role of asset managers as investors dissatisfied with their active managers increasingly choose to park their funds with the service providers.

US - Public pension plans are being allowed to 'mask' their true funding status and should be forced to adopt the same accounting standards as corporate plans, asset managers have said.

NETHERLANDS - APG Group, the investment manager for Dutch pension fund ABP, has revealed its ambition to expand into the international market, following its merger with Cordares Holdings.