SOUTH KOREA - South Korea's National Pension Service, the nation's biggest investor, said an asset manager which is bidding for a US oil pipeline approached it about possible investment.

SOUTH KOREA - Corporate pension assets in South Korea could nearly triple by the end of the year to KRW40trn (US$32bn) once new tax rules come into effect, Towers Watson estimates found.

J.P. Morgan global head of transition management (TM) John Minderides has left the firm. Meanwhile, BlackRock has lost one senior TM member, and the European co-head has gone on sabbatical.

GERMANY/ EUROPE - The European Commission has referred Germany to the European Court of Justice for imposing tax rules that result in higher taxes on dividends paid to foreign pension funds holding stakes in German companies.

UK - J.P. Morgan global head of transition management (TM) John Minderides has left the firm. Meanwhile, BlackRock has lost one senior TM member, and the European co-head has gone on sabbatical.

US - The California State Teachers' Retirement System, the second-biggest US public pension fund, agreed to begin investing in commodities as a hedge against inflation and to buffer losses in equities.

US - State Street Global Advisors has named Alistair Lowe as its new global equity chief investment officer replacing Arlene Rockefeller who is retiring after nearly three decades at the firm.

US - Florida's US$122bn public- employee pension, the fourth-largest US state system, will get expanded oversight and be allowed to own more international stocks under new guidelines effective next month.

UK - Hedging currency exposures can have as large an impact on the wealth of a portfolio as return-generating strategies, delegates at the Global Pensions Currency Management Forum in London heard.

Hedging currency exposures can have as large an impact on the wealth of a portfolio as return-generating strategies, delegates at the Global Pensions Currency Management Forum in London heard.