BUZZ-Top of the Street: Lloyds, Hammerson, SSE, Schroders, Gjensidige, Covestro A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts: ** Barclays cuts Hammerson HMSO.L to "equal-weight" from "overweight" seeing lower earnings growth and yield for the UK real estate firm than for its peers ** In a sector note, Barclays adds it sees no signs of strong recovery in real estate deals in Europe ** Jefferies downgrades SSE SSE.L to "hold" from "buy" after the British po

Pension funds rethink hedging tactics after UK crisis 'LDI' tools gain popularity two years after pensions blow-up Providers say they are better able to absorb shocks Value of leveraged hedging halves in two years - regulator By Carolyn Cohn and Iain Withers LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Two years after market chaos jeopardised Britain's 2 trillion pound ($2.7 trillion) pensions industry, the hedging strategy that exacerbated the crisis is increasing in popularity - although providers say with less

UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Sept 26 Adds news items, updates futures Sept 26 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening higher on Thursday, with futures FFIc1 up 0.7%. * SCHRODERS: UK fund manager Schroders SDR.L said it had appointed a new finance chief and elevated its group investment chief to its board, the latest appointments as it seeks to reboot its performance.

UPDATE 1-UK fund firm Schroders names new chief financial officer Adds company context and biographical details in paragraphs 5-8 LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - UK fund manager Schroders SDR.L said on Thursday it had appointed a new finance chief and elevated its group investment chief to its board, the latest appointments as it seeks to reboot its performance.

UK fund firm Schroders names new chief financial officer LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - UK fund manager Schroders SDR.L said on Thursday it had appointed a new finance chief and elevated its group investment chief to its board. Meagen Burnett will become chief financial officer, Schroders said in a statement, while Johanna Kyrklund, its group chief investment officer, will join the board.