US - The Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association (FCERA) is set to choose a new large cap growth manager for a US$110m mandate, following a search the pension fund initiated earlier this year.

ITALY - The speaker for Italian members of Parliament Gianfranco Fini has called for the creation of a pension safety net for corporate and multiemployer schemes to encourage membership into second pillar pensions.

EUROPE - Total assets managed in Europe grew by €2trn (US$2.6) to €12.8trn in 2009, estimates from European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) revealed.

ITALY - The financial crisis has shown the relative strength of the country's second pillar pension system in comparison with other forms of savings, Schroders' head of distribution for Italy Luca Tenani has said.

NETHERLANDS - Dutch transport workers scheme Pensioenfonds Vervoer has terminated a €7bn (US$9.3bn) fiduciary management mandate with Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM).

ITALY - Italian pension fund service provider PensPlan Centrum posted a 13% profit for 2009 on the back of equity gains.

US - A group of institutional investors, shareholders in Lehman Brothers, have filed an amended complaint which names Lehman's former auditor Ernst & Young as an additional defendant.

GLOBAL - Institutional investors are showing increasing interest in active strategies following a first quarter of 2010 devoted to reassessing their asset allocations, BlackRock chairman and chief executive Laurence Fink said.

US - The US Department of Labor (DOL) has announced plans to make extra information available to sponsors charged with evaluating and selecting target date retirement funds for their employees.

GLOBAL - Institutional investors' search for managers grew globally by 22% last year and pension funds are likely to show more interest in liability driven investment, data from Mercer revealed.