UK - More than 1500 Fujitsu workers are deciding whether to take industrial action over proposed pension cuts which unions believe will cut salaries by 20%.

US - The funded status of pension plans sponsored by the S&P1500 has plummeted to 81% in the last six months, analysis from Mercer has revealed.

IRELAND - Some 70% of defined benefit plans could be closed to new members in the near future, double the amount two years ago, a report by the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF) found.

NORWAY - Managers at the Norway Government Pension Fund -Global are flexing their corporate governance muscles and demanding that Volkswagen call off its planned acquisition of luxury car maker Porsche.

UK - The Conservatives have pledged to reverse the multi-billon pound pension "tax raid" introduced in 1997 by then chancellor Gordon Brown.

IRELAND - Aer Lingus said it will negotiate with trustees of both its defined benefit schemes to create a defined contribution plan for all its employees as part of a company cost-cutting measure.

GLOBAL - The secondary private equity market could parallel the buy out bubble of 2007, one consultant warned.

GLOBAL - Nearly 70% of all asset management merger and acquisition activity in the third quarter were a result of banks shedding their asset management arms, data by Jefferies Putnam Lovell showed.

ASIA - Asian institutional investors have been questioning the use of external managers in their US$5trn pots after their internal portfolios largely outperformed those of outside managers over the past year.

GERMANY - UK asset manager Aberdeen Asset Management has consolidated its German businesses under one umbrella company to bring together its sales and distribution teams.