US - Marsh & McLennan chief Brian Duperreault has urged treasury secretary Henry Paulson to take action to bridge the short-term pension funding crisis through a set of proposals to help companies with defined benefit schemes.

US - The market value of the US$189bn California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) housing portfolio has been reduced by 35% to $6.1bn.

GLOBAL - European and US real estate opportunities are likely to emerge from the current economic crisis, allowing investors and pension funds to acquire assets which produce highly competitive returns, Invesco says.

NETHERLANDS - A €250m asset pool established to encourage start up asset managers to set up in the Netherlands has the support of pension fund investor APG.

HYMANS ROBERTSON has launched the first longevity comparison club for UK pension trustees was launched last night.

Thales has appointed Xafinity Paymaster to provide pension administration services to over 20,000 members of its UK pension scheme.

CANADA - The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has announced a CAN$5.3bn (US$4.3bn) decline in asset values over the first half of the fiscal year, resulting in the fund's value falling to $117.4bn.

WATSON WYATT has bolstered its UK investment consulting team with three senior appointments.

Hymans Robertson has appointed London Pensions Fund Authority chief executive Mike Taylor to the supervisory board of its longevity research firm Club Vita, which will be formally launched today.

THE department for work and pensions is considering options to relax rules which force firms winding up a pension scheme as part of a corporate restructure or demerger to fully cover liabilities.