GLOBAL - Institutional investors should look beyond BRIC countries and consider smaller emerging markets such as Chile, Peru and Hungary, State Street Global Advisors' (SSgA) believes.

ECUADOR - Ecuador's public pension fund, the nation's biggest institutional investor, will limit purchases of government debt to about 30% of the $1bn set aside this year as rising oil prices trim the country's budget gap.

AUSTRALIA - The Self-Managed Super Fund Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA) has appointed former director Andrew Hamilton as vice chairman.

CANADA - Opposition Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff has proposed a "gradual expansion" of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and pledged an extra C$700m ($720m) in annual payments to older people on low incomes.

EUROPE - The European Central Bank's anticipated interest rate rise is a "largely symbolic" move to make it appear to be tackling inflation, Schroders head of European equities Rory Bateman believes.

IRELAND/UK - IFG Group, which bought UK pension provider James Hay last year, wants to acquire other personal pension managers in Britain under pressure to boost capital, chief executive officer Mark Bourke said.

GLOBAL - Investor confidence rose 6.5 points in March, from February's revised reading of 91.8 to 98.3, State Street Global Markets said.

GLOBAL - HSBC Global Asset Management has appointed Vikramaaditya to the new position of head of business strategy.

US - The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans declined by $6bn during February 2011, research by Milliman shows.

US - The judge who accepted the guilty plea of former New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi has transferred the pension-fund corruption case to another judge for sentencing, after refusing to withdraw because of an alleged conflict of interest.