US - AA bond yields helped buoy the funded status of US pension plans in October despite dropping equity markets.

AUSTRALIA/CANADA - Transurban Group, Australia's biggest toll road operator, rejected an unsolicited A$6.8bn ($6.2bn) takeover offer from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Bloomberg News reported.

DENMARK - The government's measures to prevent pension funds from offloading mortgage bonds has helped strengthen the Danish economy, the OECD said.

US - A Congressional vote yesterday cleared the way for pension funds and other shareholders to nominate board directors.

JAPAN - Mizuho Trust & Banking has broken into the top three largest asset managers in Japan, displacing State Street Global Advisors Japan (SSgA), a quarterly report by the Japan Pensions Industry Database showed.

UK - Transport for London has asked the High Court to launch a judicial review into a £9m (US$14.9m) levy it was ordered to pay by the Pension Protection Fund.

IRELAND - Ireland should reform its private pension tax system, including reducing the amount of pension tax subsidies, to control costs and improve the efficacy of subsidies, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) said in a...

US - The chief investment officer of the California Public Employees' Retirement System has warned of being left with merely the appearance of reform as memories of the financial crisis fade.

UK - About £4bn (US$6.5bn) worth of buyout, buy-in and longevity swap deals were struck during the third quarter of the year, Hymans Robertson analysis revealed.

EUROPE - The CFA Institute does not believe the European Union directive requiring more regulation of alternative asset managers will harm the alternatives business, and a recent CFA survey shows many members support some aspects of the proposal.