FRIENDS Provident has added 25 new funds to its corporate pension fund platform - increasing the total numper of fund choices to 83.

US - The US$225bn California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has dismissed a report on "rapidly escalating" pension costs as "a highly contrived, biased study that fails to show the big picture".

GLOBAL - Investec Asset Management has launched an actively managed currency fund targeting pension funds and other institutional clients.

IRELAND - The €4bn Bank of Ireland (BOI) Group pension fund is considering, as part of a strategic review, a foray into hedge funds and private equity through fund of funds later this year.

ROYAL Mail is to close its final salary pension scheme to new members in a bid to tackle its £6.6bn fund deficit.

THE INFORMATION Commissioner has ordered two local authority pension funds to reveal details about their private equity holdings despite fears disclosure risked jeopardising future investments.

Royal Mail to close final salary pension; Bank signals that inflation is under control

F&C Asset Management is to launch a range of specialist products for UK and European pension schemes over the next three years.

A FORMER partner at law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has filed a claim for age discrimination after being forced to take early retirement or risk losing part of his pension.

US - CalPERS has labelled any talk of managing money for private sector employers and investors as "premature", with various legal and legislative barriers yet to be cleared.