Pensions & Investments back issues from August 2007:
Leaders in asset gains think global, alternatives.(Money Management)
Aug 06, 2007 ... Byline: Douglas Appell Big asset managers with global offerings and expanding alternatives strategy lineups led the pack of publicly held money management firms reporting second-quarter results last month. BlackRock Inc., New York; Franklin Resources Inc., San Mateo, ...
CME launches S&P futures contracts as Russell exits; Group raises profile as ex-partner signs on with rival ICE.(Trading)
Aug 06, 2007 ... Byline: Isabelle Clary CHICAGO - CME Group on Aug. 19 will launch three derivatives contracts based on Standard & Poor's midcap and small-cap indexes in a bid to meet institutional investors' demand for risk-management tools in the best-performing segment of the U.S. equity ...
An IPO could be in the cards for Julius Baer; International equity performance makes the firm attractive.(planning of Julius Baer Investment Management Inc.)
Aug 06, 2007; ... Byline: Mark Bruno NEW YORK - Executives at Julius Baer Investment Management LLC could make a move to list the New York-based money management operation on the public markets, according to several investment bankers familiar with the situation. In recent months, the ...
Byrd joins P&I staff as online reporter.
Aug 20, 2007 ... CHICAGO - Jennifer Byrd has joined Pensions & Investments as an online reporter in the Chicago office. She will work primarily on P&I Daily. Most recently, Ms. Byrd worked for The Associated Press in Olympia, Wash. She also worked for the AP in Helena, Mont., and Cheyenne, Wyo. ...
Wall St. bonuses still looking good; some more than others.(reports of incentives of employees of financial services)(Brief article)
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Emily Newman Incentive compensation for financial services employees is likely to increase in the next several years, according to a study by compensation consultant Johnson Associates. The study, which looked at seven public asset management firms - Franklin ...
It's not over yet for soft-dollar spending; uptick expected.(reports of Greenwich Associates on investors)(Brief article)
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Isabelle Clary After curtailing the use of brokerage commissions for third-party research last year, institutional investors are likely to start spending their soft dollars anew, based on expectations that the SEC will not overhaul soft-dollar regulations, according to ...
Froley, Revy execs confident of turnaround.(services and management of Froley, Revy Investment Company Inc.)
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Raquel Pichardo LOS ANGELES - Froley, Revy Investment Co. Inc.'s assets under management have dwindled to $804 million from $3.4 billion at year-end 2006, but executives believe new offerings will help lure clients. Since the start of 2007, the Los ...
Finishing in front: Equities; Equities: Managing risk key for winning mid-, small-cap strategies.(Influence of risk management on investment companies)
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: ISABELLE CLARY Risk management paid big dividends for the top-performing separate account in the Morningstar Inc. Separate Account/ Collective Investment Trust database, which was dominated by midcap and small-cap strategies. Insight Capital Research & ...
Highland has CDO opportunity; fund on the way.(Highland Capital Management)(Brief article)
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Jay Cooper Highland Capital Management will open the Highland CDO Opportunity Fund to institutional investors on Sept. 1. The fund currently has $500 million in assets, all from Dallas-based Highland Capital itself and investors who have had long relationships with the ...
Fund management M&A flies along; going for record.(influence of acquisitions and mergers on investment companies)(Brief article)
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Douglas Appell The record pace of global fund management industry M&A activity during the first half of 2007 isn't likely to be derailed by recent turbulence in equity and credit markets, according to a report by Putnam Lovell, New York. Buyers spent at least $33.7 ...
Index outlook not so scary; positive prediction.(Frontlines)
Aug 20, 2007 ... Byline: Barry B. Burr The S&P 500 will finish the year at 1,600, and the Dow Jones industrial average, 14,000, according to a forecast by Abby Joseph Cohen, Goldman Sachs managing director-portfolio strategist and chair of its investment policy committee. The S&P 500 ...
Distressed debt funds preparing to pounce.(services and statistics of investment companies)
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Arleen Jacobius Institutional investors and private equity firms are awakening to the possibility that yesterday's buyout might be tomorrow's distressed debt deal. In the first half of this year, distressed debt funds raised $23.7 billion, up from $19 billion ...
Lawsuits expose fiduciary tightrope; Providers should show how money spent creates value.
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Richard D. Glass Last year, a St. Louis-based law firm filed a series of class-action lawsuits that has been described as "an all-out assault on the fee structure employed by most 401(k) plans.'' The targets of these lawsuits are some large plan sponsors and the ...
International liftout could sting manager; Departure of Boston Co. equity team might put firm in hot water with pension clients.(Boston Company Asset Management)
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Douglas Appell and Mark Bruno BOSTON - The departure this month of Boston Co. Asset Management LLC's best-performing international equity team could spell double trouble for a firm that has prospered in recent years meeting growing institutional demand for overseas ...
At deadline.
Aug 20, 2007 ... External managers sought The $7 billion Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System will search for active managers for its $4.8 billion equity portfolio that had been managed internally, confirmed James Hacking, executive director. A date for the search and the number of ...
HIGH-STAKES DARE OF INVESTORS TO RISK AVALANCHE.
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Jeff Pantages Jill Fredston is a nationally recognized avalanche expert from Alaska. She knows how to identify risky terrain, predict avalanches and lead rescue efforts. Jill knows about complacency and overconfidence. She knows about a kind of moral hazard risk, where ...
European funds dig into agricultural commodities.
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Thao Hua More institutional investors are considering agricultural commodities as a possible way to help stabilize their investment portfolios in a volatile market environment. That includes the e208.9 billion ($286 billion) Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, ...
CalPERS could cut real estate firms; Review of portfolio recommends trimming investments and opening offices overseas.
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Raquel Pichardo SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A number of CalPERS' 84 real estate money managers could land on the chopping block if proposed changes to the fund's real estate portfolio are approved by the board next March. A strategic review of the $242.7 billion ...
LDI approach touted for target-date funds; "Riskless asset" should be TIPS, PIMCO contends.(Pacific Investment Management Co.)
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Jenna Gottlieb NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Target-date funds should take an LDI approach, protecting them from the bumps and grinds of equity markets, officials at Pacific Investment Management Co. contend. By incorporating liability-driven investing into these ...
Corrections/Clarifications.(Correction notice)
Aug 20, 2007 ... American Beacon Advisors, Fort Worth, Texas, offers several index funds. A story in the Aug. 6 issue was incorrect. City of ...
Liberating capital.(finance for reorganization and restructuring of government property)
Aug 20, 2007 ... The tragedy of the Minneapolis bridge collapse underscores the need for financing repair, maintenance, improvement and expansion of publicly controlled infrastructure across the country, as well as worldwide. It is a challenge for traditional government finance, and a potential ...
Unsuitable for public funds.
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Barry B. Burr Public pension funds are "particularly ill-suited vehicles for social investing,'' according to a new analysis by Alicia H. Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and Peter F. Drucker Professor of Management at its Carroll ...
Liability driven investing; Providing custom-designed solutions for plan sponsors.(Advertising Supplement)
Aug 20, 2007 ... Why liability driven investing makes sense for pension plans today - 4 Clearing the implementation hurdle - 13 Making the right choices about benchmarks, risk budgeting and asset allocation - 20 ...
Funds report 2nd quarter results.(industry sales and revenue of Pension funds)(Financial report)
Aug 20, 2007 ... With the end of the second quarter, several funds are reporting their fiscal year or quarterly returns for periods ended June 30. Ohio School Employees Retirement System, Columbus, announced that its investment returns totaled 19.26% for its fiscal year ended June 30. The $11.69 ...
Finishing in front: Fixed income; Fixed income: High-yield strategies continue to outshine others for year, 5 years.
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: JAY COOPER High-yield managers continued to assert their dominance over their peers, claiming the top 10 spots among highest performing fixed-income strategies for both the one- and five-year periods ended June 30. The performance data comes from the ...
Market volatility puts risk at forefront; Credit crunch has some pension funds taking hard look at quality of securities.
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Jay Cooper It's officially gut-check time for many pension funds. William Atwood, executive director for the $12.4 billion Illinois State Board of Investment, Chicago, said he is calling his fixed-income managers to "make sure that our triple-A paper is in ...
Back for more; William Priest has a talent for reinventing himself through new money management firms. And that's the way he likes it.
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: JAY COOPER William Priest is happy to start from scratch. His new firm, Epoch Investment Partners Inc., New York, was founded in 2004 with just 11 employees. It now has 46 employees and $6 billion in assets under management. Stock for the publicly traded firm has also ...
Fee disclosure sought for bundled providers; Consultants, TPAs cheer moves on transparency.(laws, regulations and rules and management of financial disclosure)
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Doug Halonen Pension consultants and third-party administrators want bundled providers, including industry giants such as Vanguard and Fidelity, to disclose their revenue-sharing arrangements with affiliated service providers, but the bundled providers are balking. ...
The search begins; Legg Mason starts hunt for successor to charismatic founder.(Money Management)
Aug 20, 2007 ... Byline: Mark Bruno BALTIMORE - Legg Mason is beginning a search for a new chief executive officer and eventual successor to its legendary founder, president and CEO Raymond "Chip'' Mason. Officials for the $992 billion asset management company recently issued an ...
ILLINOIS STATE BOARD REPLACES BOSTON CO. WITH SSGA.(Illinois State Board of Investment)(State Street Global Advisors Inc.)(Brief article)
Aug 20, 2007 ... CHICAGO - Illinois State Board of Investment hired State Street Global Advisors to run $333 million in an MSCI World ex-U.S. index fund, said William R. Atwood, executive director of the $12.6 billion system. The firm replaces Boston Co. Asset Management, which was terminated from a $333 ...
INDIANA STATE TEACHERS HIRES 7 EQUITY MANAGERS.
Aug 20, 2007 ... INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana State Teachers' Retirement Fund hired seven equity managers to run $85 million each, said Robert D. Newland, chief investment officer of the $9 billion fund. Running active domestic small-cap portfolios are: Cortina Asset Management and ClariVest Asset ...
Texas Teachers readies for alternatives push; Fund to add senior staffers in preparation for $32 billion shift to new asset classes.
Aug 20, 2007 ... Byline: Mark Bruno AUSTIN, Texas - T. Britton Harris IV, chief investment officer of the $112 billion Teacher Retirement System of Texas, is looking to build his A-team. Executives at the country's seventh largest retirement system, with an eye toward moving more ...
Deficits shrinking for plans worldwide; Rising markets, bond yields improve status of funding at largest companies, report says.
Aug 20, 2007; ... Byline: Beatrix Payne LONDON - Rising bond yields and strong equity performance during the past year eliminated more than three-quarters of the deficits of pension plans sponsored by the world's largest companies, a new report from consultants Lane Clarke & Peacock LLP, London, ...
Changes ahead.(management of retirement planning)
Aug 20, 2007 ... Webster (Mass.) Retirement System issued an RFP for at least one manager to run a total of $1.8 million in core or value-added real estate. The manager is being added for diversification, and the source of funding is undetermined. The system has less than $1 million in real estate, said ...
Hirings.
Aug 20, 2007 ... Alaska Permanent Fund JUNEAU, Alaska - Alaska Permanent Fund hired eight active international equity managers to run a total of $3.25 billion, said Laura Achee, spokeswoman for the $37.4 billion fund. Hired to run $500 million each were: Dodge & Cox, GE Asset Management, Goldman ...
CalPERS votes to abandon list of emerging markets.(News Briefs)
Aug 20, 2007 ... SACRAMENTO, Calif. - CalPERS voted Aug. 13 to eliminate its permissible emerging markets list and instead use a principle-based approach that allows emerging markets managers to invest in any country in the FTSE All-Emerging index. Managers will evaluate countries and companies on ...
A season of slaughter for quant shops; Subprime mortgage woes tear gaping holes in managers' leveraged strategies.(Investing)
Aug 20, 2007 ... Byline: Christine Williamson It's been a bloody summer for quant managers. While much of the focus has been on quantitatively managed hedge funds run by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Applied Quantitative Research Capital Management LLC, Highbridge Capital Management LLC ...
Fidelity in flux; Revolving door in executive suite has some wondering about 'constant improvements'.(Money Management)
Aug 20, 2007 ... Byline: Douglas Appell BOSTON - Fidelity Investments' dedication to "kaizen,'' the Japanese business concept of improvement through continuous change, makes inevitable executive suite turnover an opportunity for the firm to move forward, spokeswoman Anne Crowley said following ...
Footnotes on performance data.(Special Report: Top-performing Managers)
Aug 20, 2007 ... * "Commingled Funds" and "Collective Investment Trusts" are used interchangeably within the industry; for the sake of consistency across data and applications products, Morningstar now uses collective investment trusts in monthly rankings and Morningstar Ratings for these investment ...