INCLUDING: UK - Gottex grabs mandate; US - Florida man stole $5.7m from pension fund; CANADA - La Caisse goes tech

NORWAY -The US$328bn Government Pension Fund - Global may significantly increase its equity allocation, according to Knut Kjær, the head of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the portfolio.

US - The Vanguard Group has filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a new series of mutual funds designed to provide monthly payments to investors in retirement.

UK - UK defined benefit (DB) pension schemes could be among the "indirect casualties" of the fall out from the US sub prime crisis, following information released by the Bank of England.

UK - The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has appointed Russell Investments to carry out a commission recapture programme for its externally managed global portfolios.

Trustees should not carry out their own covenant assessments instead of paying external advisers for the service, managers believe.

NETHERLANDS - Dutch pension scheme ABP has revealed it may launch "indexation labels" in an effort to boost communication with members.

GLOBAL - Educating people about risk will be one of the main objectives for Andy Cox, the newly appointed head of Hewitt's global benefits consulting business.

IRELAND - The National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) has decided to actively manage the frequency and spread between roll dates of commodity spot and futures prices in its 1.5% allocation to the asset class.

Money purchase to pay less than state pensions; Pearl considers resolution move; Financial regulators ‘found wanting under fire'; Private equity bids for Emap on track despite credit markets