US - Standard & Poor's has placed 76 fixed-income funds on credit watch because of their exposure to US Treasury and government agency securities.

US - Legal analysis carried out by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has ruled that pension promises made to current and retired members are a "vested right" and protected under State and federal laws.

US - The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) has withdrawn all eight of its board diversity shareholder proposals filed during the 2011 proxy season after successfully engaging companies to reconsider their director searches.

US - The aggregate deficit of S&P 1500 pension plans fell by $15bn during June, new figures from Mercer show.

GLOBAL - Almost a third of institutional investors plan to increase their allocation to hedge funds over the next 12 months, with more than half of them doing so directly, research by Preqin reveals.

AUSTRALIA - The Gillard Government's new carbon pricing scheme will lead to greater investment in clean energy and clean technology, superannuation funds believe.

US - The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has issued an RFI for investment in domestic emerging private equity managers.

Pension schemes and other institutional investors have filed an amended complaint alleging "rampant nepotism" and "failed corporate governance" at News Corp. in light of the ongoing British phone hacking scandal.

US/UK - US pension funds and other institutional investors have filed an amended complaint alleging "rampant nepotism" and "failed corporate governance" at News Corp. in light of the ongoing British phone hacking scandal.

UK - The £4.1bn ($6.5bn) London Pension Fund Authority (LPFA) has awarded Dutch fund manager Robeco its first UK contract to oversee its shareholder voting and corporate engagement.