CANADA - The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has announced plans to reduce expenses by C$20m (US$20m) this year in part by reducing external asset management fees.

US - Taxpayers across the US owe public school teacher retirement accounts about US$933 billion, nearly triple the amount reported by the plans themselves, a study said.

DENMARK - Danish pension manager LD has put up to €6bn (US$8.2bn) in assets up for bid for 12 bond and equity mandates.

US - Public pension funds in the US have been said to be embracing risk, but scheme managers at the recent Pension Bridge Annual conference in San Francisco said they're merely taking on riskier assets in a smarter way.

LATIN AMERICA - Private equity firm Advent International has announced a final close of US$1.65bn in its Latin America Private Equity Fund V (LAPEF V), with 40% of those assets coming from pension fund investors.

US - Exchange traded funds (ETF), typically thought of as a retail product in the US, are making inroads in the US institutional space, according to a new survey by consultant Greenwich Associates.

US - The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) is looking to gain exposure to direct infrastructure assets while building strategic relationships with other investors.

US - The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) will begin debating this week maiden investments in microfinance.

CANADA - Labour unions in Canada are calling on the federal government to double the benefits paid to retired workers.

NORWAY - The Norwegian Ministry of Finance said today it planned to limit the amount of tracking error the Government Pension Fund Global can introduce to the scheme through active management as it moves towards decreasing risk in the fund.