North America

US - The California Public Employees' Retirement System has announced plans to ask 58 of the top US firms in its global equity portfolio to adopt the majority vote standard in uncontested elections for corporate directors.

CANADA - The Ontario Municipal Employees' Retirement System posted returns of 10.6% in 2009, but its scheme deficit still increased more then five-fold over the year to C$1.5bn (US$1.45bn).

US - The Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois (Illinois TRS) has terminated BlackRock from a US$643.5m domestic enhanced equity mandate for poor performance and hired a slew of other managers.

CANADA - Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec posted a 10% return for 2009 but fell short of its target returns.

US/CANADA - Manager search activity by institutional investors in North America is set to increase 13% above 2009 levels, potentially resulting in a shift in assets of US$420bn this year, a survey by eVestment Alliance and Casey, Quirk & Associates revealed....

CANADA - The University of Toronto pension and endowment fund is set to adopt profound changes to its investment strategy and its investment management structure following a 30% loss on its assets during 2008.

CANADA - Nearly three quarters of Canadian investment managers said their clients do not direct them on how to vote their proxies, a new survey found.

US - The California State Teachers' Retirement System is allocating an additional US$100m to inner-city and rural markets through the Banc of America Merrill Lynch Capital Access Fund.

CHINA/US - The China Investment Corp. (CIC) has partnered with chip maker Intel to invest in technology innovation, Intel said.

CANADA - The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) reported a growth in assets of C$100m (US$94.7m) for the last three months of 2009 as cash outflow to pay benefits offset strong investment returns.