CANADA - The opposition Liberal party has called for the government to launch a supplementary pension plan aimed at encouraging Canadians to save more for retirement.

Exchange traded funds are generally more expensive than many institutional index products and an unattractive long-term investment option for most pension funds, Watson Wyatt claims.

GLOBAL - Exchange traded funds are generally more expensive than many institutional index products and an unattractive long-term investment option for most pension funds, Watson Wyatt claimed.

GLOBAL - Investors should be cautious in taking short positions on the US dollar despite signs the currency is becoming cheap against currencies such as the euro and the Australian dollar, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has warned.

EUROPE - The implementation of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive in its current format is set to cost the European Union 0.1% to 0.2% in annual GDP growth, a study by Europe Economics has revealed.

NETEHRLANDS - Economic policy adviser CPB has urged the Dutch government to start the state retirement age reform no later than 2015 instead of waiting until 2020.

AUSTRALIA - Superannuation funds should hedge their portfolios against inflation to protect them against a surge in US prices, research by fund manager QIC has warned.

US - The chairman of private equity firm Markstone Capital Group has pleaded guilty in the on-going investigation of pay-to-play kickback schemes at the New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF).

IRELAND - The aggregate pension fund accounting deficit of the top 25 companies quoted on the Irish Stock Exchange and the top state-sponsored bodies totals €9bn (US$13.5bn), a study by Lane Clark and Peacock (LCP) revealed.

EUROPE - Multinationals are increasingly looking at creating cross-border pension funds for their employees, industry figures said.