GERMANY - The supervisory committee of the Pensionskasse Verka, the  €1.8bn German Evangelical Church fund, has sacked its executives Bernd Kühlein and Wolfgang Völkers following a special meeting on Tuesday.

Chairman of the supervisory committee Rolf Krämer said in a statement the two had been dismissed following "irreconcilable differences".

Kühlein and Völkers, who were responsible for asset allocation and risk management, will be replaced by Ulrich Remmert, member of the executive committee of the HUK-Coburg life insurer, and Jürgen Mathuis, of insurer Familienfürsorge-Lebensversicherung.

German media reports suggest Kühlein is involved in a continuing legal battle with the supervisory committee, which accuses him and a former colleague, Manfred Balk, of negligence in their management of the fund and is suing both for €2.5m in compensation.

Six years ago, the two had planned to allocate that amount to a new additional pension fund, but the scheme was never established.

Both Kühlein and Balk have now entered the appeals process.

But a spokeswoman for the pension fund today declined to give further comment on the case.

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