US - Two US pension funds who sued Goldman Sachs last month over allegedly excessive bonus packages have asked the court to schedule an expedited hearing on their request to block the payments.

US - The Massachusetts Bricklayers and Masons pension fund has confirmed it has filed a lawsuit against Novartis, Alcon and Nestle claiming a deal between the companies discriminated against minority Alcon shareholders.

Chile - The country's second pillar pension system, AFPs, posted positive results of up to 4.77% for the month of December driven by the funds' equity exposure, regulator Superintendencia de Pensiones has revealed.

ITALY - Fondenergia, the pension fund for the Italian energy sector employees, has awarded a €760m (US$1.1bn) risk-overlay mandate to Feri Institutional Advisors, marking the largest institutional mandate for the advisor in Italy.

NETHERLANDS - The implementation of the Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) in its current form could result in an annual loss of around €1.5bn (US$2.2bn) for Dutch pension funds, and a reallocation into more traditional asset classes,...

FRANCE - The Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites has hired five managers to run a total of around €1.5bn (US$2.1bn) in fixed income mandates.

US/ISRAEL - Telecommunication software provider Comverse Technology will pay US$225m to a group of investors, including at least one pension fund, in what is said to be the largest settlement involving an Israeli institution serving as lead plaintiff....

GLOBAL - Fewer investors will employ active managers and will avoid high-fee products in 2010, Watson Wyatt predicted.

NETHERLANDS - De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch central bank, said it plans to improve the risk management functions at local pension funds after a review of the industry found schemes took on too much investment risk.

UK - Industry veteran Richard Stroud is to quit as a volunteer adviser with The Pensions Advisory Service, a non-profit organisation that advises on pensions, amid claims of ageism at the department for work and pensions.