Asia

MIDDLE EAST - Pension funds are increasingly demanding investment opportunities in the Gulf region, a survey by exchange traded funds provider Lyxor has shown.

ASIA - Asian institutional investors do not have access to the same level of asset management service and investment expertise enjoyed by their counterparts in other regions, a study by Greenwich Associates has highlighted.

JAPAN - Plans to siphon off Y10trn (US$90bn) from the world's largest pension fund, Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), to form a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) have been put forward this week by a working party from within the country's ruling...

JAPAN - Barclays Global Investors (BGI) reported a 160% increase in the number of pensions mandates last year, rising to 381.

JAPAN - The outlook for the Japanese economy will improve over the next year, according to one of the country's leading economists.

JAPAN - Despite strong inflows to Japanese equities and funds in the past few months, from the likes of AP1 and the Merseyside Pension Fund, experts are still divided over the question of investing in Japan, with no clear consensus emerging.

Emma Oakman examines whether positive economic signs spell the end of the bad times for Japanese markets or merely paint a false picture of optimism

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA - Expanding growth and liquidity has made the Middle East and North African (MENA) one of the more attractive growth regions in the near future, according to senior figures at Pictet Funds.

Asian countries are exposing their citizens to a concentration of risk comparable to that which occurred in the Enron scandal, delegates at Mercer's Asia Pacific Investment Forum have been told this week

JAPAN - Japan has made a reappearance on pension funds' radars, with asset managers reporting higher inflows to equity funds investing in the country.