News

UK - Pension funds worth an estimated £1.7trn have been contacted by members supporting a campaign to stop a pharmaceutical company blocking poor counties' access to affordable medicines.

UK - Lloyds TSB has appointed Hewitt Associates to provide consulting advice on risk and governance for its pension schemes.

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND - State Street Corporation has appointed Ian Martin as general manager for State Street Global Markets in Australia and New Zealand.

UK - Lehman Brothers International and Legal & General have been appointed as transition managers by the Strathclyde Pension Fund.

IRELAND - Irish managed pension funds took a last minute hit as a result of the freefall in the market last week, returning an average of -0.5% in February.

PUERTO RICO - Government officials are to sell up to US$9bn of taxable debt in a bid to tackle it's rising unfunded pension liabilities.

F&C ASSET Management is launching a listed fund of hedge funds.

AUSTRALIA - Institutional fund manager QIC has appointed Charles Woodhouse to the newly-created position of alpha investments head, as the firm strengthens its focus on active return objectives.

UK - The row over pension fund investment in private equity took another turn today as the GMB union national secretary condemed the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association's (BVCA) new working group as "too little, too late".

FIDELITY International is working on new "DB-lite" investment strategies as companies consider reopening closed final salary plans.