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Investors need to gradually get ready for a return of confidence due to a commitment to tighter governance from EU leaders, according to William De Vijlder, CIO, Strategy and Partners at BNP Paribas Investment Partners.De Vijlder spoke to PLANSPONSOR Europe following the EU leaders’ agreement on short term action to tackle the Eurozone debt crisis and a new fiscal compact for the area. 

Public sector pensions need to be protected, not just because of the meaningful contribution public sector workers make to the UK economy as tax payers, according to UK union Unison’s John Burgess. Burgess took time at this week’s public sector protests over pensions to talk to PLANSPONSOR Europe. He rejected the notion that public sector workers are a “different breed." 

As Europe wrestles with sovereign debt, volatility in markets is inevitable, but this throws up investment opportunities for patient investors, according to David Lloyd, Head of Institutional Portfolio Management at M&G Investments. Lloyd took time at a M&G Investments Fixed Income roundtable lunch to speak to PLANSPONSOR Europe about the opportunities available. 

The European Commission’s review of the European IORP Directive needs to get the balance right in its focus on the sustainability as well as security of pensions, according to Patrick Burke, Chairman, European Federation for Retirement Provision (EFRP) and Director Investment Development Irish Life Investment Managers.PLANSPONSOR Europe spoke to Burke at the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions (EIOPA) conference in Frankfurt,, click on the video to see what he had to say.