Europe

UK - Royal Bank of Scotland's acquisition of the US bank Charter One Financial makes "business and financial sense" for investors, according to Isis Asset Management.

NORWAY - The Government Petroleum Fund returned 2.93% in the first quarter of 2004, outperforming the benchmark by 0.24 percentage points.

UK - Gissings is urging the government to keep stakeholder's 1% fee cap despite fierce lobbying from providers, as they provide better value than personal pension products.

EUROPE - SEI Investments has appointed Stephan Römer as head of institutional business development for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

UK - Aegon posted first quarter pre-tax profits of £32m for its UK operations, up 10% compared to the same period last year.

UK - Investment managers have backed a drive by the Financial Services Authority to end soft commissions and unbundled payments for non-execution services.

UK - KBC Asset Management is to become the sole distributor of Northern Trust's European manager-of-managers business in Ireland.

UK - Wm Morrison Supermarkets is facing a shareholder backlash, despite concessions towards corporate governance best practice.

UK - Consumer confidence in pensions and long-term savings is increasing, new research shows.

UK - The Liberal Democrats have attacked the government over claims that it is "turning every stone" to find a solution to the pensions crisis.