North America

CANADA - The global stock market rally helped Canadian schemes claw back most of their 2008 losses, a survey showed.

US - Staff at the California State Teachers Retirement System want to expand the range of active versus passive management they can use in the global equity portfolio, stating the current policy is too restrictive.

CANADA - The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has partnered with investor Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins (CRCD) to invest a total of C$600m (US$573m) between the two in small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs).

US - The Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association (FCERA) has eliminated its global fixed income allocation and diverted those assets to emerging markets.

CANADA - Global Pensions invites readers to save the date for the Currency Management Forum Toronto 2010 to discuss how pension funds can make the most of the unique currency environment.

CANADA - Canada's financial stability could be at risk by the discovery that current methods of accounting for public sector pension obligations may have been understating their true costs by C$58bn (US$56.3bn), a think tank said.

US - Emerging market specialist Finisterre Capital has launched an absolute return fund seeded with US$250m of initial capital from the New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF).

GLOBAL - A strong majority of global pension fund investors believe active managers have the ability to deliver alpha, a new survey by Pyramis Global Advisors found.

US - Two US pension funds who sued Goldman Sachs last month over allegedly excessive bonus packages have asked the court to schedule an expedited hearing on their request to block the payments.

US - A class action lawsuit has been filed against Sterling Savings Bank on behalf of staff seeking compensation over the firm's alleged failure to protect pension investments in company stock.