Some highlights from Monday’s FTfm

Deutsche and Lyxor in surprise physical move
Two of Europe’s largest players in the exchange traded funds market are changing their business models in an effort to revive flagging fortunes

Rivalry and tougher rules fuel change
Growing competition is driving down costs but also spawning a rash of alternative indices that can help investors target their investment needs

Vattenfall to invest its pension in itself
The Swedish energy group is winding up its scheme and transferring its assets to its own balance sheet to avert what it calls a tsunami wave of regulation. The scheme members are protected by an insurance contract should Vattenfall fail

Aberdeen plans big hedge fund expansion
The fund manager plans to more than double its fund of hedge funds business to $10bn within a few years even though there is growing evidence that more institutions are choosing to invest in hedge fund directly

Japanese switch to yen assets
More than 60% of survey respondents said they had sold foreign currency-denominated assets in the past year and put their money in yen-denominated bank accounts or invested in Japanese equities instead

Concern grows over US pensions’ unrealistic targets
US pension funds are targeting returns of 8 per cent compared to European and Asian funds’ 5 per cent target.

Tales of equities’ death have been exaggerated
Many bond fund managers are worrying more about a possible crash in the bond market, and thinking about how to position themselves for it. Pimco set up four equity funds for the first time in 2010 and other traditional bond houses have said they are looking at specialising in equity tactical asset allocation

The trend towards crash insurance
CTAs have offered good insurance against a certain type of crash in the past without the heavy losses in good times of other forms of protection. Investors are right to take them seriously, within their limits, says James Mackintosh