CANADA/UK - The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) has agreed to buy the operator of the UK National Lottery, Camelot, for an estimated £389m (US$577.7m).

CANADA - The Canadian government will go on road show to get feedback from individuals, and have commissioned a series of reports on how to improve the country's pension system.

UK - Ignis Asset Management is encouraging industry leaders and politicians to debate hybrid schemes.

JAPAN - Japan's public pension fund, the world's largest, plans to cut the number of money-management firms it uses to simplify operations and adopt new benchmark indexes to reduce market impact and lower trading costs.

AUSTRIA - UK-based F&C Asset Management has submitted a potential takeover bid for Austrian asset manager C-QUADRAT Investment.

US - Excessively high foreign exchange trading fees could be costing investors up to 2% of their total portfolio over a 40-year period, new research by Russell Investments showed.

GLOBAL - The world's richest economies must urgently work out how to put a lid on spiraling retirement costs to address the "acute" challenge of tackling high public debt, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

ASIA - Mercer has restructured its Asian team to capture growth opportunities in the region.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Infrastructure developer Kharafi National has instituted a new retirement plan for employees that allows them access to a wide variety of global investment options and offers a company match.

US - Some of the largest pension fund investors and corporate governance experts in the US have urged senators not to undermine key provisions in a bill proposing sweeping reform of the US financial system.