CANADA - Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec will focus on generating returns in line with its liabilities and simplify the schemes investments as it tries to recover from the financial crisis, its chief executive said.

US - AK Steel will top up the company pension fund with a US$75m payment during the first quarter of 2010.

NEW ZEALAND - The New Zealand Superannuation Fund said today it hired Milford Asset Management to manage an active domestic equities mandate.

US - Russell Investments has tapped two Barclays Global Investors executives formerly tasked with growing its ETF arm iShares to help Russell build out products related to the exchange traded funds business.

NORWAY - Norges Bank has defended itself against accusations that it is falling well short of its ambitions as an ethical investor with regard to climate change.

CANADA - The global stock market rally helped Canadian schemes claw back most of their 2008 losses, a survey showed.

UK - Pension funds could be missing out on returns from debt offered by high quality, but lesser known companies looking to raise cash through single bond issues.

Pension funds could be missing out on returns from debt offered by high quality, but lesser known companies looking to raise cash through single bond issues.

UK - The Universities Superannuation Scheme has boosted its global emerging markets team with three hires.

IRELAND - Bank of Ireland (BoI) has appointed Brian Forrester, the former head of Bank of Ireland Life, to lead a review of the firm's defined benefit fund and look at ways to tackle its €1.5bn (US$2.12bn) pension deficit.