Pensions & Investments back issues from December 2008:
Got a beef? Now you can vent; United in anger.(Frontlines)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: CHRISTINE WILLIAMSON Hedge fund-of-funds maven Sandra L. Manzke issued an e-mail want ad seeking other angry hedge fund investors. One of the industry's earliest hedge fund investors, Ms. Manzke now is chairman and chief executive officer of MAXAM Capital ...
Illinois Teachers rebalances in tough times; Pension funds.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Christine Williamson Trustees of the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois, Springfield, proved themselves up to the challenge of rebalancing the fund's $28 billion portfolio despite turbulent markets. At their Dec. 4 meeting, the TRS board ...
Corrections & clarifications.(Correction notice)
Dec 08, 2008 ... * CalSTRS assets declined 12% in the month of October to $129 billion from $147 billion as of Sept. 30. Assets invested by the Sacramento, Calif.-based fund in U.S. stocks declined 18% to $45 billion in October; non-U.S. stocks dropped 25% to $18 billion; fixed-income assets declined 6.6% ...
Changes ahead.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Shropshire County Pension Fund, Shrewsbury, England, is searching for at least one active global bond manager to run [pounds sterling]57 million ($87.6 million), confirmed Graham Chidlow, head of finance for the [pounds sterling]750 million fund. Funding will come from terminating Aberdeen ...
Ontario Teachers promotes Petroff to CIO.(People)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Neil Petroff was named chief investment officer and executive vice president of investments at the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Toronto, effective Jan. 1, confirmed spokeswoman Deborah Allen. He will replace Robert Bertram, who is retiring. Mr. Petroff is group senior vice ...
Uncle Sam looks better to overseas investors.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Thao Hua Institutional investors in Europe and the Middle East may be poised to raise their stakes in the U.S. Low valuations and aggressive federal intervention to lift the economy out of recession are enticing overseas investors, according to consultants ...
Now playing: pension woes in New Jersey; Video overture.(Frontlines)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Isabelle Clary New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine posted on YouTube.com over the Thanksgiving holiday a four-minute video proposing to let local governments defer half of their contributions to pension plans covering 700,000 state employees. "My intent is to help ...
Economist: Short-term view breeds market dysfunction; Words of wisdom.(Frontlines)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: ISABELLE CLARY Popular wisdom, backed by much academic literature, holds that markets are inherently efficient - a notion strongly challenged by their dizzying ups and downs of the past year. Paul Woolley, chairman of The Centre for the Study of Capital ...
Hits come half the time for managers; 50/50.(Frontlines)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Thao Hua The average active long-only equity manager in all strategies picks the best performing stocks relative to their benchmarks about half the time, according to a report analyzing 215 equity portfolios with a combined $152 billion in assets. The hit ...
Hirings.
Dec 08, 2008 ... Alaska Permanent Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., Juneau, hired HarbourVest Partners to manage the $28 billion fund's $804 million private equity portfolio, confirmed spokeswoman Laura Achee. HarbourVest joins Pathway Capital Management, which was hired as the fund's ...
Annuity investors watch insurers; Liquidity crisis raises concerns among plan execs about ability to pay out claims.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: John D'Antona Jr. Retirement plan executives are worried that some big insurance companies won't be able to pay claims on the annuity products sold to benefit plans. "One big issue is the safety of guaranteed annuities,'' said Thomas Woodruff, director of the ...
Authors guide hedge investors; Finding your way.(Frontlines)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: CHRISTINE WILLIAMSON Lost in hedge fund land? That TomTom talking personal navigation system you covet for Christmas won't be of any use, but the London-based Alternative Investment Management Association has come to the rescue with a "Roadmap to Hedge Funds.'' ...
News briefs.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... N.Y. Common closes 3 equity accounts New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, last month terminated three equity accounts worth a combined $2.3 billion, said Robert Whalen, spokesman for state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the fund's sole trustee. The fund, ...
Ready for the future; Girish Reddy believes the current market turmoil and an expected hedge fund shake-up will turn out to be good for the industry.(Face to Face Girish Reddy)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Christine Williamson Girish Reddy has an obvious passion for his job at Prisma Capital Partners LP. Mr. Reddy co-founded Prisma five years ago as an institutionally focused hedge fund-of-funds manager after leaving Goldman Sachs, where he was co-head of ...
Investors avoid pummeled stocks of money managers.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Jing Zhou Call it one more holiday discount ignored. Shares of publicly traded money managers are down as much as 87% year to date through Dec. 1. And while most are now trading at bargain-basement prices, investors - fearful of more market turmoil and ...
Managers may need to take off those rose-colored glasses; Glass half-full?(Frontlines)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: DREW CARTER We were pleased to find that people at West Orange, N.J.-based FS Associates Inc. were as incredulous about the results of their recent survey as we were. In responses from 70 money managers, about half from outside the U.S., FS Associates found ...
ON CRISIS AND RESCUE.(Editorials)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Barry B. Burr I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.'' -Thomas Jefferson Laurence Booth uses the provocative quote to begin a chapter in a newly published book - "The Financial Crisis and Rescue: What Went ...
Underfunded U.K. schemes studying contingent assets; Funding strategy to become popular way to conserve cash.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Drew Carter Alternative funding strategies will be increasingly tapped by U.K. pension scheme trustees and their sponsors as a way to shore up funded levels without draining needed cash from companies' balance sheets, consultants say. Interest in such ...
Miscalculating risk in housing, credit; P&I round table panel: Investors didn't heed lessons from burst of the tech-stock bubble.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Jing Zhou Institutional investors - when it came to risk management - took their eye off the ball, even after the tech-stock bubble burst in the early part of the decade, according to a risk management round table assembled by Pensions & Investments. "People ...
Redemption requests bode ill; Year-end asset values could plunge up to 45% once withdrawals are made.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Christine Williamson The bad news is in for hedge fund managers. Come Dec. 31, many could lose up to one-quarter of their assets if investors indeed take back all that they've requested. The final redemption window of the year closed on Nov. 30, and ...
It can't get much worse; Property landscape littered with broken deals, appeals for cash to appease banks.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Arleen Jacobius It's the worst of times for real estate money managers. Properties with purchase offers are not closing; transactions are down; and managers are going hat in hand to their investors for cash to prop up properties they do own. ...
Managers snub Street for agency brokers.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Isabelle Clary Money managers, shocked by the fall of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., are turning to client commission arrangements with execution-only agency brokers to get top-notch research while avoiding the risk of another Wall Street debacle. Many ...
401(k) plan changes are Campbell's legacy; Automatic enrollment, fee disclosure are just some highlights of EBSA chief's tenure.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Nancy K. Webman Bradford P. Campbell believes the "transformational changes'' to 401(k) plans will be his legacy at the Department of Labor. In an interview Dec. 3 in his tidy, spacious Washington office, he ticked off a list of these changes: "auto ...
Increase in outsourcing opens up new frontier.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: John D'Antona Jr. Outsourced assets are expected to exceed $500 billion in the next three years, creating a broad pool of cash for both traditional and alternative asset managers to tap, according to a research paper scheduled to be released today. But it ...
$20 million error means more woe for Wellington.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Douglas Appell Wellington Management Co., Boston, had to make good on a $20 million mistake recently - a flesh wound for the money management giant in normal times but especially painful in a rocky business environment that last week prompted the company to execute its ...
Public fund consolidation proposed for Illinois.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Barry B. Burr Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois state treasurer, plans to propose legislation in January to merge the investment functions of the state's five pension systems into a single fund with a combined $54 billion managed by a new Illinois Public Employees' Retirement ...
Bechtel settles 401(k) plan lawsuit.(Defined Contribution)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Bechtel Group Inc., San Francisco, settled a lawsuit with its 401(k) plan participants, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Jerome Schlichter, managing ...
Reversal of fortunes at AMG; Complicated boutique structure being punished, analysts contend.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Byline: Douglas Appell Affiliated Managers Group Inc., Boston, a leading holding company of money management boutiques, has been walloped in recent months by investors fretting about the layers of uncertainty embedded in its business model. While all publicly held ...
Risk of a sure bet.(Editorials)
Dec 08, 2008 ... A number of pension plan sponsors took gambles over the past several years by selling bonds to finance their pension obligations. They believed they could invest the bond sale proceeds in ways that would earn returns greater than the interest they were paying on the bonds. The ...
At deadline.(News)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Legg, State Street cut staff Legg Mason, parent company of money managers Western Asset Management and Legg Mason Capital Management, laid off roughly 8% of its staff, or just less than 200 people. State Street Corp., parent of State Street Global Advisors, announced it would ...
Lessons from a crisis; 5 investment experts debate how the credit crisis unfolded and whether anyone will be learning from it.(Special Report: Risk Round Table)
Dec 08, 2008 ... Fannie Mae. Freddie Mac. AIG. Citigroup. Household names for sure, but also companies among the biggest recipients of the government's largess as officials try to grease the wheels of finance to get the economy and capital markets back on track after a truly awful fall. The ...
Only on pionline.com.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... * Making a list: Aoifinn Devitt's 2007 Christmas wish list was largely disappointing given the market chaos and so this year she's asking for nothing in equities and focusing on credit opportunities. * Global warming: Sustainable investing is hot and likely to get hotter under ...
Corrections & clarifications.(Correction notice)
Dec 22, 2008 ... * Returns for several Baillie Gifford Overseas accounts listed in the Nov. 10 special report were incorrect. For the international stock composite ranking, the correct returns are: BGO LT Global Growth ex-North America, -26.63% (one-year gross return), -27.38% ...
Homework saves crying over Madoff; Institutions heeded the red flags raised by hedge funds of funds.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Christine Williamson Bernie Madoff stood little chance of luring U.S institutions into his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme because elite U.S. hedge fund-of-funds managers stood solidly in the way. The due diligence of hedge funds of funds that specialize in ...
Muted optimism greeting Fed policy; Fixed-income execs hoping rate drop will revive ailing economy.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Isabelle Clary Fixed-income money managers are cautiously hopeful that the Federal Reserve's unprecedented free-money and debt-purchase policy will help avert a deeper downturn for the credit markets and the economy. At its Dec. 16 meeting, the U.S. central ...
EBRI celebrates 30 years; Anniversary applause.(Frontlines)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: doug halonen The Employee Benefit Research Institute, the Washington-based retirement and pension research organization, celebrated its 30th anniversary Dec. 4 - to applause from key federal lawmakers. "One of the reasons (EBRI's) work gets attention and is ...
Obama taps three to study agencies; Under review.(Frontlines)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: DOUG HALONEN Washington insiders wondering what will be on the front burner at the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration next year should get to know Phyllis Borzi, a research professor in the department of health policy at George Washington ...
Managers looking at exotic beta as next evolution in DC investing.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: John D'Antona Jr. Defined contribution plan investments could become a bit more exotic, if Goldman Sachs' Kurt Winkelmann has anything to say about it. Mr. Winkelmann, managing director and head of global investment strategies at Goldman Sachs Asset ...
Portable alpha fails to deliver the goods.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Douglas Appell Some institutional investors are ending their portable alpha programs and others are scaling back as a painful year in the markets winds down. However, while conceding widespread disappointment in 2008, proponents say a focus on better matching ...
Failed BCE buyout delivers a blow to direct deals.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Arleen Jacobius The demise of the BCE buyout puts another nail in the coffin for institutions acting like merchant banks - but the model is not dead yet. While some large Canadian pension funds had been acquiring firms whole and later selling them off, the ...
Welcome to Pensions & Investments' eighth annual Databook.(2008 Data Book)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Welcome to Pensions & Investments' eighth annual Databook. In this issue, readers will find a collection of charts, tables and statistics on a variety of investment management subjects. This compendium is a reference book for tax-exempt fund executives as well as executives of ...
Overseas players opt to build absolute return; More transparency, better returns cited as reasons to create internal teams.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Thao Hua Officials from some of the top pension funds globally are ramping up their internal absolute-return capabilities. Driven by inadequate transparency, performance problems and redemption issues among external hedge fund managers, pension fund officials ...
Shift to equity index funds to continue in '09.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Jing Zhou Institutional investors are fleeing to the relative safety of stock index funds, shunning active managers, according to managers and consultants. But whether the shift to passive will last is questionable. According to passive managers, increasing ...
PBGC sets conference on longevity risk.(News)(Conference news)
Dec 22, 2008 ... The PBGC is hosting an invitation-only conference on managing longevity risk. Guy Coughlan, global head of pension asset liability management at JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, London, will be the featured speaker at the Jan. 12 conference. It will be held at the Washington headquarters ...
Sound bite.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... SMS Capital Management's Steven Sheldon: "How many times do we have to say, ...
At deadline.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Kraus succeeding Sanders Peter S. Kraus was named chairman and CEO of AllianceBernstein Holding, replacing Lewis A. Sanders, who is retiring after 40 years at the firm. Mr. Kraus said in a news release that the firm's focus under his guidance will remain "providing ...
French managers facing more difficulties; Regulatory limits, little diversification add to market woes.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Thao Hua Regulatory constraints and lack of diversification in the French money management industry might be putting additional pressure on an industry already under threat from difficult market conditions globally, according to a Fitch Ratings report published earlier ...
SHOCK, HOPE, ENNUI OF 2008.(Editorials)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Barry B. Burr The following collection draws from a few of the many notable quotes in 2008 Pensions & Investments news stories that are worth remembering. They display the perspective, intellect, enthusiasm, worry, surprise and humor that investment management ...
PORTERFIELD JOINS P&I IN CALIFORNIA.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Robert M. "Bob'' Porterfield has joined Pensions & Investments as a reporter in the San Francisco office, covering the business of money management and West Coast pension funds. Mr. Porterfield has more than 30 years of journalism experience, including five years at the ...
Some discover a silver lining; Insurance asset outsourcing expected to remain a strong growth area for firms.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Timothy Inklebarger Insurance asset management outsourcing could be a ray of sunshine for investment managers in the current financial storm, according to industry analysts. General account assets outsourced by insurers grew 11% in 2007, to a record $906 ...
Out of the shadows; The economic downturn has thrust Christina Seix into the limelight as a bond manager whose investment style is winning clients.(Face to Face Christina Seix)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Jing Zhou Christina Seix possesses an unusual combination: strong maternal instincts and geekiness. She runs Seix Investment Advisors LLC, Upper Saddle River, N.J., like a big family. The firm started as an independent bond shop in 1992 and now is a subsidiary of ...
Changes ahead.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... AP Fonden 1, Stockholm, issued RFPs for at least one manager each to run a global listed real estate portfolio and a North American REITs strategy, according to an announcement on the 201.8 billion Swedish krona ($24.7 billion) fund's website. The accounts will total a combined $200 ...
CalPERS charting new waters on currency hedge extension.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Robert Porterfield CalPERS officials have proposed extending their currency hedge to include all asset classes instead of just international equities in a move that is considered very unusual. In doing so, they propose putting in place a 15% hedge across the ...
Read wants to seed clean energy firms; Starting small.(Frontlines)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: ARLEEN JACOBIUS Russell Read, former chief investment officer for the $182.6 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, has crossed coasts and shifted from overseeing one the nation's largest pension systems to that of capital raising and clean ...
Stable value managers stay safe; Firms are holding cash at the ready in case redemptions increase.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: John D'Antona Jr. Stable value managers are hoping for the best while preparing for the worst. They're keeping more cash on hand for potential future redemptions, having seen managers of historically safe funds like money markets hit by heavy redemptions over ...
IBM, Dell among top firms for handling climate risk.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... International Business Machines Corp., Tesco PLC and Dell Inc. scored the highest among consumer and information technology companies worldwide in tackling climate change risk and opportunities, according to a report produced by RiskMetrics Group and commissioned by Ceres and the Investor ...
Big is better, managers say; Focus on counterparty risk changes game for managers and brokers.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Isabelle Clary The financial debacles that have roiled markets this year have put an unprecedented emphasis on counterparty risk, changing the way equity and fixed-income money managers conduct business with brokers. "You have to be quite convinced that you ...
PBGC SEEKS TO TERMINATE LEHMAN PLAN.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... The PBGC on Dec. 12 sought in court to terminate the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Retirement Plan, which the agency estimates is 95% funded. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. estimates the plan has $898.2 million in assets to cover $940.8 million in liabilities. If the U.S. ...
3 defined contribution rules face ticking clock; Missed deadline for final rules imperils regs on fees, advice.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Doug Halonen Three key defined contribution proposed regulations could be in jeopardy because the Department of Labor failed to win White House approval far enough ahead of the change in presidential administrations, pension industry lobbyists and attorneys said. ...
Managers are hoping for some good cheer; Happy holidays?(Frontlines)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER With the financial services industry still reeling from the credit crunch, some money managers might be expecting little more than a lump of coal this year. Pensions & Investments contacted money managers, consultants and others over the past few ...
Price correction expected to last until 2010.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Arleen Jacobius Commercial property values - with just one or two exceptions worldwide - are expected to fall next year, with prices unlikely to reach their nadir until 2010, according to Lasalle Investment Management's Investment Strategy Annual, a comprehensive survey ...
Portable alpha: what went wrong; Created during relative stability, market crisis exposes risk.(Other Views)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Mark Anson eyond the disturbing impact of the current recession, questions are now being raised about an asset management strategy designed to enhance the performance of pension fund investments - portable alpha. In recent weeks, the Massachusetts Pensions ...
Managers tout due diligence in avoiding Madoff; Out in the open.(Frontlines)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: CHRISTINE WILLIAMSON It took a huge scandal - Bernie Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme - to convince a slew of hedge funds of funds that they needed to be more open about their own investments. An unprecedented number of hedge fund-of-funds managers announced ...
A needless risk.(Editorials)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Financial earthquakes have a way of revealing weaknesses in regulatory systems and uncovering wrongdoing. So it is with the current financial crisis, which revealed many flaws in the operations not only of the Securities and Exchange Commission, but also of the Federal Reserve ...
Plan losses may spur shift to LDI strategy; Those that made switch couple of years ago reaping benefits during current market drop.(News)
Dec 22, 2008 ... Byline: Barry B. Burr The drop in the capital markets might prompt pension funds to consider moving to liability-driven investing to mitigate against further losses and increased contributions. With many U.S. corporate pension plans facing huge pension deficits ...