US - Trustees of the Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) have proposed increasing employee and employer contribution rates in order to bring the scheme back up to full funding.

US - Asset managers can expect slimmer bonuses this year as firms continue to struggle from the downturn, according to a new report by recruitment firm Russell Reynolds Associates.

US - State and local North Carolina governments will have to increase their contribution rate into the North Carolina Retirement Systems to 6.71% to make up for an underfunded status, the state treasurer said.

AUSTRALIA - Three Australian pension funds have funnelled a combined A$66m (US$60.6m) into the global bond fund managed by Pengana Capital.

EUROPE - The proposed European Union directive to regulate alternative asset managers could cost investors some €5bn (US$7.4bn), a report commissioned by UK regulator Financial Services Authorities found.

US - The former head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said President Barack Obama should empower a "blue ribbon" panel to investigate pay-to- play at public pension funds that oversee more than US$2trn, Bloomberg reported.

The proposed European Union directive to regulate alternative asset managers could cost investors some €5bn (£4.6bn), a report commissioned by the Financial Services Authorities reveals.

EUROPE - The cost of an ageing population in Europe is expected to "dwarf" the impact of the current financial crisis many times over, a European Commission report revealed.

US/UK - A US buyout market to rival the UK's is not likely in the short term because of competing mindsets among the countries' policy makers about the future of defined benefit systems - US officials still have faith.

UK- Aegon has let go four members of its European equity team as part of a restructure which will also see the departure of the group's sales and marketing director Jon Bennett.