CANADA ­- Canadian pension fund returns have surged following a strong performance in the third quarter.

CHINA - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided a US$500,000 grant to the People's Republic of China to help the country establish a rural pension system.

AUSTRALIA - The median superannuation growth fund was up 9.9% in the quarter ended September 30 on the back of strong domestic equity and real estate markets.

US - Defence contractor Lockheed Martin said yesterday it planned to contribute US$2.4bn to its pension funds through 2010.

US - California attorney general Edmund Brown has sued State Street for US$200m for allegedly overcharging the nation's two largest pension funds for currency trades.

US - BlackRock reported assets under management of US$1.43trn as of September 30, a jump of over $61bn during the third quarter, the firm said in an earnings release today.

AUSTRALIA - Australia's A$64.3bn (US$60bn) Future Fund reported returns of 5.6% in the quarter ending September 30.

US - Morgan Stanley will sell its retail business, including Van Kampen Investments, to Invesco for $1.5bn as the firm increases its focus on the institutional market.

The deadline to nominate your providers for the Global Pensions Awards 2010 has passed.

GLOBAL - Private pension funds have not been using benchmarks that measure them against their long-term goal of providing income replacement, a preliminary report by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) found.