Canada

CANADA - Three more Canadian pension funds may have put themselves in line for slice of the Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) pie, but have sidestepped the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) bid in favour of private equity firms.

CANADA - Pension funds have returned over 14%, bolstered by healthy equity returns according to a report by RBC Dexia Investor Services.

CANADA - A consortium of Canadian pension funds began buy-out talks with Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE), the country's largest communications company.

CANADA - Rising stock markets and a modest increase in bond yields helped restore the country's pension funding to the highest level in almost five years, according to Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

CANADA - The C$99bn (US$85bn) Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) has entered preliminary talks about forming a consortium for a $45bn takeover bid of Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE).

US - US state pension funds have rejected government proposals to prohibit investment in companies such as BNP Paribas which do business in Iran.

CANADA - Alberta Investment Management is to be separated from the Department of Finance to manage public monies including the province's C$26.95bn of pension fund assets as a stand-alone entity.

CANADA - Philippe Ithurbide has been promoted to executive vice-president of fixed income at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

CANADA - The C$143.5bn Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has upped its stake in school bus company Student Transportation of America (STA).

CANADA - A House of Commons Public Accounts Committee emergency meeting today is to investigate allegations of a cover up in the enquiry into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) pension fund scandal.