North America

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.

CANADA - The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has poured C$400m (US$375m) into a private equity fund of funds that will invest in Canadian small-mid sized companies.

US - The US Department of Labor (DOL) and the Treasury are requesting feedback on the implications of integrating a lifetime annuity arrangement into defined contribution plans.

UK/US - Affiliated Managers Group and the management team of Artemis Investment Management have bought Artemis from Fortis Bank for an undisclosed sum.

US - President Barack Obama called for the discontinuation of tax cuts for investment fund managers in his first State of the Union address yesterday.

UK/US - Two US investment management firms have decided to launch target date funds in an assault on the UK DC market, Global Pensions has learned.

CANADA - Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec will focus on generating returns in line with its liabilities and simplify the schemes investments as it tries to recover from the financial crisis, its chief executive said.

US - Russell Investments has tapped two Barclays Global Investors executives formerly tasked with growing its ETF arm iShares to help Russell build out products related to the exchange traded funds business.