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 This entry was posted by Emma Boyde on Sunday November 18th, 2012 16:49.