LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Anglo Australian investment manager Henderson (HGGH.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is winding down its low-fee earning businesses to focus on more lucrative active fund management after buying rival Gartmore, its chief executive said.

Henderson, which saw a near five-fold rise in pretax profit in 2010 due to inflows into high-fee products, is withdrawing from business such as liquidity management, which posted outflows last year.

“We have transferred the liquidity business to Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)… it is a business that we do not see ourselves in,” CEO Andrew Formica said on Wednesday in a conference call with journalists.

Formica said the Gartmore acquisition, due to complete by early April, underlined Henderson’s ambition to focus on high-fee earning fund management, such as property, hedge funds and equities.

Henderson saw inflows of 2 billion pounds to its higher margin funds but these were offset by 3.4 billion pounds of outflows from its low-fee funds, its New Star arm, the transfer of a property fund to Aviva Investors and fresh redemptions from client Pearl, resulting a net outflow of 1.4 billion pounds.

Henderson shares were unchanged at 158.1 pence at 1000 GMT, against a 0.56 percent fall in the FTSE 250 .FTMC.

Henderson’s rescue of Gartmore, which runs mutual and alternative funds as well as segregated mandates, appears to be gradually stemming outflows from its troubled rival.

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) – A ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) expected next week could boost women’s retirement income by up to 10 percent and make men worse off, creating upheaval in the insurance sector. Insurers currently pay retired men who have purchased an annuity more than women on the basis that on average they live three years less, according to investment adviser Hargreaves Lansdowne.

European Union Advocate General Juliane Kokott argued in a preliminary finding last September that gender should not count as a risk factor for annuities, saying economic and social conditions also influence life expectancy.

If judges in the ECJ incorporate her views, the gender disparity in annuities would end, which could impact profit at insurers like Legal and General (LGEN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Prudential (PRU.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), unless costs are passed on to clients.

Here are some possible scenarios highlighted by pension experts and lawyers:

GENDER-BASED INSURANCE RATES ARE IMMEDIATELY ABOLISHED

Women could in theory see total increases in payouts of pension annuities of hundreds of millions of pounds, said Andy Cheseldine, principal at consultant Lane Clark and Peacock.

The Association of British Insurers has advised its members that “it would be sensible to consider the implications (of such a scenario) for the customers and business” in the run-up to the judgment, expected on March 1, a spokesman told Reuters.

LONDON (Reuters) – The $7.2 billion (£4.4 billion) Pioneer Fund is sticking to its top holding Chevron, betting the U.S oil giant will shrug off a multi-billion dollar fine for polluting the Amazon rainforest, manager John Carey told Reuters.

“It is a very controversial case and Chevron has a lot of evidence on its side that it did what it was required,” Carey said on Thursday, adding that Pioneer would keep its exposure at just under 3 percent, its self-imposed investment cap.

Earlier this week, an Ecuadorean judge ruled that Chevron was responsible for polluting a large area of the Amazon rainforest, instructing the company to pay $8.6 billion in damages after 17 years of litigation.

Chevron, which is appealing against the judgement, would be able to draw on “gigantic reserves” to pay for settlement, which Carey reckons stands “no chance” to be as high the levy.

“I am not really even worried about that, it is an almost trivial issue from the standpoint of the company and its larger prospects,” he said, adding the stock was “very cheap.”

Carey’s fund, the oldest fund managed by Unicredit asset management arm Pioneer and the third oldest mutual fund in the United States, returned 21.4 percent in the year to the end of January, slightly outperforming peers, according to Lipper data.

Carey, who joined Pioneer nearly 32 years ago, also invests in book publisher John Wiley and Sons, the only independent listed book publisher in the United States.

LONDON (Reuters) – Deals in which British companies pay insurers to take on pension liabilities could more than double this year as stabilising asset prices open the market to more firms, a leading insurer said.

David Collinson, a partner at Pension Corporation which partially or totally takes on pension liabilities, told Reuters such transactions, known as buyouts and buy-ins, dramatically slowed during the financial crisis but were now within “chequebook distance” for more firms.

Pension Corporation, which manages 4 billion pounds, says the industry could see up to 8 billion pounds in deals in the first half of the year, up from 3.2 billion pounds a year ago.

Pensions consultant Lane Clark and Peacock estimates the deal flow could reach 12 billion pounds for the whole of 2011.

Buyouts are used by companies to pass on pension assets and liabilities which as retired workers live longer can in extreme cases threaten an employer with insolvency.

Buy-ins are generally used to insure a scheme’s liabilities but leave most of the assets within the scheme.

Collinson attributed much of the lift to greater willingness among insurers to take payment for taking on pension liabilities in non-cash assets such as property amid stabilising markets, opening that market to more companies.

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Deals in which British companies pay insurers to take on pension liabilities could more than double this year as stabilising asset prices open the market to more firms, a leading insurer said.

David Collinson, a partner at Pension Corporation which partially or totally takes on pension liabilities, told Reuters such transactions, known as buyouts and buy-ins, dramatically slowed during the financial crisis but were now within “chequebook distance” for more firms.

Pension Corporation, which manages 4 billion pounds ($6.4 billion), says the industry could see up to 8 billion pounds in deals in the first half of the year, up from 3.2 billion pounds a year ago.

Pensions consultant Lane Clark and Peacock estimates the deal flow could reach 12 billion pounds for the whole of 2011.

Buyouts are used by companies to pass on pension assets and liabilities which as retired workers live longer can in extreme cases threaten an employer with insolvency.

Buy-ins are generally used to insure a scheme’s liabilities but leave most of the assets within the scheme.

Collinson attributed much of the lift to greater willingness among insurers to take payment for taking on pension liabilities in non-cash assets such as property amid stabilising markets, opening that market to more companies.