EUROPE - AllianceBernstein is planning to launch a risk parity strategy for pension schemes seeking growth while minimising equity volatility.

ROMANIA - Romania's Constitutional Court has rejected opposition challenges to pension changes vital to the terms of an international bailout loan.

NORWAY - Norway's Government Pension Fund Global intends to broaden its investments to include infrastructure projects and private equity investments in a bid to increase returns.

EUROPE - Strong returns on European long-term savings are being hampered by an expensive and "highly inefficient" pensions market, the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) said.

GLOBAL - Pension funds are increasingly using private exchanges to trade stakes in hedge funds and are now more often buyers than sellers, HedgeBay says.

US - The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has replaced BlackRock Realty Advisors as manager of a $1bn apartment real estate portfolio.

US - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said city pension funds have set unrealistically high assumed rates of return on investments at 8%.

US - The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two former State Street employees with misleading investors about their exposure to subprime investments.

EUROPE - Almost three quarters of European fund managers fear the new Key Investor Information Document (KIID) will increase costs, research by KNEIP has found.

A benchmark portfolio with an 8.5% allocation to gold suffered 5% lower losses during the financial crisis than one not holding gold, research published by the World Gold Council (WGC) suggests.